LIFE STORIES FOR YOUNG PEOPLE 



EMIN PASHA 







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LIFE STORIES FOR YOUNG PEOPLE 



EMIN PASHA 



LIFE STORIES FOR YOUNG PEOPLE 


Translated from 


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GEORGE P. UPTON 1 


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^MIN PASHA 



Life Stories for Young People 



EMIN PASHA 



Translated from the German of 
M. C. Plehn 



BY 

GEORGE P. UPTON 

Translator of ^^ Memories,''* ^^Immensee,** etc, 
WITH FIVE ILLUSTRATIONS 




CHICAGO 

A. C. McCLURG & CO. 
1912 



Copyright ^ 
A. C. McClurg & Co. 
1912 

Published September, 1912 



THK«PLIMPTOIf»PRKSS 

[ W • D • O ] 
NORWOOD'MASS'U'S.A 



gCI.A3l9947 



Cranslator^s preface 



EMIN PASHA, sometimes called "the father of 
the Equatorial Provinces," is a notable figure 
in the records of African exploration. He 
was preeminently a scientist and was devotedly 
fond of zoology and botany. Amid all his cares of 
office, his sufferings from the hardships of African 
exploration, his neglect and ill-treatment at the 
hands of the Khedive and his ill-health and growing 
blindness, he pursued his scientific investigations 
with passionate ardor. 

No African explorer ever had the welfare of the 
Soudanese more at heart than he, and yet he met a 
cruel fate at the hands of treacherous Arabs and 
was murdered while studying his favorite plants and 
birds. In all his long career he never injured any- 
one, but constantly strove for the welfare of the 
natives and retained his confidence in them after it 
was apparent to almost everyone else that they were 
treacherously conspiring against him. 

The German author now and then hints at friction 
between Emin Pasha and Stanley, and is inclined to 
blame Stanley for indifference as to Emin's fate after 

[v] 



PREFACE 



he had been sent to bring him relief. The friction, if 
it existed, was probably due to the different tem- 
peraments of the two men. Emin Pasha was con- 
servative, blindly attached to the Soudanese, certain 
he could govern them by mild measures, a quiet, 
reserved scholar passionately devoted to scientific 
pursuits and at home in Africa, rather than an 
explorer. Stanley was a man of action, bold, and 
dashing, who, in the phrase of the day, might be 
called "a hustler." It is undoubtedly true that at 
times he had little patience with Emin's slowness 
and cautiousness and his scientific absorption which 
sometimes rendered him oblivious to dangers be- 
setting him. 

G. P. U. 

Chicago, July^ 19 12 



[vi] 



Contents 



THE 



Chapter 

I The Father of His People . 

II The Slave Question 

III The Carpenter of Dongola and 

Mahdists 

IV Calm Before the Storm 
V The Enemy Approaches 

VI Casati's Adventure . 

VII In Need of Help 

VIII Stanley Comes to the Relief of Emin 

IX The Meeting at the Lake . 

X The Mutiny 

XI The Tragedy at Jambuja 

XII Again in the Dark Forest . 

XIII Fresh Troubles .... 

XIV The March to Zanzibar 

XV Emin's Misfortune . 

XVI New Plans 

XVII Ferida's Departure . 

XVIII Again in the Heart of Africa 



Page 
II 
21 

26 

33 
39 
45 
57 
61 
70 

75 
80 

85 
88 

92 

96 

99 

lOI 

104 



[vii] 



CONTENTS 



Chapter Page 

XIX Again with the Soudanese .... 109 

XX To THE West 113 

XXI Emin's Death 118 

Appendix 125 



[viii] 



Emin Pasha Frontispiece'^ 

A Serious Accident to Emin 41*^ 

First Meeting of Stanley with Emin Pasha . 71^ 

The Snow Mountain 94^ 

Major Wissmann 105 ^ 



lix] 



€mtn ^asfja 



Chapter I 
The Father of his People 



AS the famous traveller. Dr. Junker/ came in 
sight of the town of Lado^ on the Nile, on 
the twenty-first of January, 1884, after a 
year's stay in the Soudan, he felt that all his priva- 
tions and dangers were at an end, though many 
hundreds of miles still separated him from his home. 
After having been deprived so long of nearly every- 
thing that we consider the ordinary necessities of 
life, after wandering alone in the wilderness, in 
primeval forests and over sunburned plains, among 
cannibals and cruel man-trafficking Arabs, he knew 
that he would find a white man in Lado who could 
speak his native tongue, — a zealous scholar and finely 

^ Dr. Wilhelm Junker was born at Moscow in 1846 and died at St. 
Petersburg in 1892. Between 1873 and 1886 he explored Algeria, Tunis, 
Lower Egypt, and a considerable part of Central Africa. 

* Lado is in Central Africa on the White Nile, near GondokoTo, and 
was founded by General Gordon in 1874. 

[II] 



EMIN PASHA 



cultured man, who would acquaint him with every- 
thing from which he had been excluded so long — a 
friend who would welcome him with a cordial grasp 
of the hand; in a word, Emin Pasha, that heroic 
governor of the Equatorial Provinces, whose strange 
fate and cruel murder filled the whole civilized world 
with astonishment and sympathy. ^ 

After a short day's march through the country of 
the Bari, ^ the traveller was certain that the end of 
his journey was not far distant. How different were 
the well-cultivated farmlands from the wilderness, 
interspersed here and there with Arab settlements. 
The negroes had their property well protected, their 
herds were grazing in all directions, and the people 
of the numerous villages did not flee, but kept calmly 
about their work. Dr. Junker's servants were 
astonished when they saw that in this country the 
stronger did not appropriate the property of the 
weaker and that the Turkish government had not 
disturbed them. 

As the expedition neared the station, shots were 
fired as a welcome. The advancing boys and carriers 
made way and Junker perceived a body of men in 
faultlessly white garments coming to meet him. At 
their head he at once recognized his friend, Dr. 
Emin Pasha, a slim, almost haggard man of little 
more than medium height, with a small face, dark 
full beard, and deep-set eyes, whose sight was ren- 

^ The Bari are a negro race in the eastern Soudan, and are both agri- 
cultural and pastoral. 

[12] 



THE FATHER OF HIS PEOPLE 

dered keener by spectacles. His demeanor and 
movements impressed one with his composure and 
self-control. His external appearance betrayed an 
almost painful neatness. He and his attendants 
rode mules and six black soldiers in white uniforms 
followed him. To Dr. Junker it appeared a festal 
procession and tears came to his eyes. He sprang 
from his horse and greeted his friend first, then the 
others. The rest of the distance to the station was 
made on foot, the two eagerly conversing. 

What a change there had been at Lado since 
Dr. Junker last saw its miserable rush huts, six 
years before. At that time Emin had just begun 
his difficult administration. The changes which 
they saw all about them testified eloquently to the 
governor's abilities. 

The man holding this high position in the Soudan 
arose from humble circumstances. His real name 
was Edward Schnitzer. He was born at Oppeln in 
Silesia, in 1840, and shortly after his family removed 
to Neisse, where many of his relatives are living 
to-day. We know little about his youth, but we are 
told that the boy was an enthusiastic naturalist, 
fond of making collections of flowers and insects, and 
even at that time noted for his reserve and thought- 
fulness. Both these characteristics are observable 
in the man. The study of nature was his principal 
recreation and compensated for his lack of human 
intercourse. But his conscientious devotion to 
science and his aversion to publicity leave us little 

[131 



EMIN PASHA 



knowledge of his accomplishments or his real senti- 
ments. Even his most intimate friends knew little 
of his inner nature, and while his letters to European 
scholars reveal his varied activities, yet they are of 
no value in throwing light upon his nature, which 
makes it difficult to understand some of the actions 
of the man. 

Edward Schnitzer studied medicine in Breslau 
and Berlin in 1863-64 and took the doctor's degree. 
It was his love of nature that led him to go abroad. 
He went to Trieste and Antivari, and from there, 
with a Turkish companion, Hakki Pasha, to Trebi- 
zond. He soon succeeded in gaining respect and 
influence. His facility in adapting himself to the 
habits of the places where he was stopping, the re- 
markable ease with which he learned languages (he 
spoke Turkish and Arabic as if they were his native 
tongues), and the success which attended his medical 
practice, quickly brought him fame and importance; 
and when, as was the custom in those countries, he 
changed his German name to a foreign one (Emin, 
*'the Faithful"), he was hardly recognizable as a 
European. In the company of Hakki he explored 
Arabia and then went to Janina and Constantinople. 
When his protector died, the young physician re- 
turned home and devoted himself entirely to scientific 
pursuits. But soon the monotony of everyday life 
and its quiet regularity, the colorless northern land- 
scape, and frequent cloudy skies became unen- 
durable, and he suddenly decided to make a change. 

[14] 



THE FATHER OF HIS PEOPLE 

In 1876 he went south again, this time to Egypt. 
He reached there at just the right time, for the enter- 
prising Khedive, Ismail Pasha, was attracting large 
numbers of Europeans to his country because of his 
extension of the limits of the ancient kingdom of 
Pharaoh far to the south and the west. 

Emin placed himself at the disposition of Gordon 
Pasha as a physician, Gordon at that time being 
governor of Hat-el-Estiva. He soon recognized 
Emin's importance, and intrusted several diplomatic 
missions to negro chiefs in the south to him. When 
Gordon resigned his position in 1878 to enter upon a 
wider field of action, Emin became his successor 
and governed a territory in the Equatorial Provinces 
which stretched from Lado to the equator and was 
as large as France, Germany, and Austria combined. 

Emin owed his elevation to the post of governor 
to Dr. Junker's recommendation. Consequently 
the latter was very anxious to know what he had 
accomplished in the wilderness, so far away from 
civilization. As Emin conducted his guest to his 
private divan, it seemed to him a palace, though it 
would have been a very unassuming structure to 
us. It stood upon a plaza, on the bank of the Nile, 
in the form of a spacious, enclosed rectangle. On the 
east side, towards the river and also towards the 
north, was the house, surrounded by rows of dark 
green lemon trees, between the servants' and watch- 
men's cabins. On the west side of the plaza were 
two larger cabins and a great sun awning which made 

lis] 



EMIN PASHA 



a most comfortable lodging for the traveller and his 
company. Emin's house had doors and windows, 
but the entrances of the other dwellings were fitted 
with curtains. The houses were built of brick and 
stood in regular order upon broad streets which were 
intersected by narrower rectangular thoroughfares. 

The numerous huts of the natives were con- 
structed of straw and palm leaves. These light 
buildings lasted only about three years, for termites ^ 
and borers were busied in their destruction day and 
night, and they were frequently destroyed by fire 
in the dry season. Emin could preserve his col- 
lections only by the most constant care. Thousands 
of stuffed birds, his papers, diaries, and provisions 
had to be guarded against indefatigable insects. 
The termites especially swarmed in the inner pas- 
sageways of the house, infested the beds and shelves 
and made havoc with Emin's stores. 

The arrangement of the divan was simple and re- 
called the comforts of home. A long massive work 
table was covered with writing materials, another 
with meteorological instruments and periodicals, and 
European chairs stood at each. At the side was a 
small library on shelves and upon several round 
iron tables were various useful articles, such as are 
common with us. All the tables had neat covers. 
In two corners were chests and cases and flowered 
curtains hung at the doors and windows. 



* Termites are white ants which grow to a very large size in Africa. 

[i6] 



THE FATHER OF HIS PEOPLE 

The morning hours were spent by the two friends 
in conversation, but the dinner with table napkins 
and changes of plate was so surprising to our traveller, 
unaccustomed to such luxury, that it nearly took 
away his appetite. One morning Emin invited his 
friend for a walk to his storehouse and the govern- 
ment garden, of which he was very proud. Count- 
less lemon and banana trees, full of fruit, shaded the 
passageway. Bitter oranges, sweet lemons, oranges 
and pawpaws, which are somewhat like our melons, 
only sweeter, were also cultivated. White and 
yellow and exceedingly fragrant flowers and golden 
and red fruit shone in the dark foliage everywhere. 
Emin had also imported pomegranates, small fig 
trees, and grapevines. Of vegetables there were our 
cucumbers, several kinds of cabbage, all the Arabian 
vegetables, as well as the cassava, the sweet batata,^ 
and sugar cane. 

The government made a profit out of the garden 
as the surplus of its products was sold daily for a 
fixed sum. There were such gardens at all the sta- 
tions and Emin exerted himself to supply the natives 
with seeds of all kinds and instructions how to plant 
them so that they might have the benefit of fruit 
and vegetables. He explained, however, that the 
negroes were so easy-going and childlike by nature 
that he always had trouble with them. They culti- 
vated rice, coffee, cotton, and all the products of 



^ The native name of the sweet potato. 

[17] 



EMIN PASHA 



Emin's garden, but in spite of all his admonitions 
they would never remember to retain seed corn. 
So, when the time came for sowing, appeals for seed 
were made on all sides and the governor was kept 
busy in sending for it. The negro had no anxiety 
for the coming day, for ^'Father Emin" was in 
Lado. A visit was next made to the drug depart- 
ment, from which a shaded walk led to the back 
of the garden, where there were several cabins 
for the use of the sick. The walk was a charming 
one, as it was shut off from the vegetable garden 
near by by hedges of flowers. 

They now reached a spot where the walk widened 
and Dr. Junker uttered an exclamation of joyous 
surprise. A lovely picture was before him. Under 
a canopy of blue and purple flowers and green vines 
sat a beautiful Arabian woman upon cushions rock- 
ing a charming child upon her knees. It was the 
little Ferida, Emin's daughter, early bereft of her 
mother. She greeted her father with a joyous out- 
cry, took the outstretched hand of the unknown 
guest in the most friendly manner, and gazed at 
him with indescribably deep, dark, serious eyes. She 
was a solitary child, without companions of her own 
age, without playthings or instruction, who would 
have had plenty of companions in Europe. She had 
to be carefully protected from the dangers of the 
tropical world, from snakes and deadly scorpions, 
which frequently made their way into the house 
through open windows. She could never leave the 

[i8] 



THE FATHER OF HIS PEOPLE 

garden and go down to the river, for beasts of prey, 
which they often heard howHng not far away, fre- 
quently attacked people and dragged them off. So 
Ferida had to stay the whole day with her dark- 
skinned nurse, a tall woman in a scarlet under- 
garment and white loose wrapper, eagerly waiting 
for the evening hour when the father would have 
time to see his darling. 

At such times the serious man and the lovely child 
would sit close to each other upon a bench in the 
dense shade of the bananas, watching the play of 
the shadows which the bluish moonlight made 
through the foliage upon the dark red ground. Over 
all reigned a mysterious silence, only broken by the 
rustling of the banana leaves. Great bats flitted 
like spirits through the air. "The father of the four 
wings," as the Arabs call the nightjar, with its long 
fantastic feathers, which in flying give it the ap- 
pearance of a dragon, flew noiselessly about. Bluish 
lights marked the course of the great "lamp carriers," 
the tropical fireflies, and whirring night butterflies 
fluttered about, hardly visible to the eye in their 
dark dress. All nature was filled with the deepest 
peace. Then Emin would tell her of his quiet 
peaceful life in the far northern cities; of his joyous 
yet strenuous student life in beautiful Berlin; of his 
journey over the blue sea, which Ferida cannot yet 
imagine, notwithstanding his description of it; of 
Constantinople and its splendid palaces with their 
golden domes; of the desert, with its burning sun 

[19] 



EMIN PASHA 



and the silence of the dreamy nights, when the stars 
are unnaturally bright; of brown and black people 
with their different habits and costumes; of wars 
and adventures; of the terrors of forest fires, and 
of the curious dwellings of the negroes. Then he 
would describe the plants, birds, and four-footed 
animals he had studied so closely and tell her fables 
and romances that he had heard on his many journeys 
from the natives, so that his child, who had no story 
books, might at least have a pretty one of her own 
father's telling. 



[20] 



Chapter II 

The Slave ^estton 



DR. JUNKER greatly enjoyed the quiet, 
peaceful life which his friend was leading 
on the extreme frontier of civilization, but 
many serious questions were troubling him, and he 
availed himself of the first leisure moments to ask 
Emin about the condition of the slave trade in the 
Soudan. "I heard in Europe," he said, "that this 
shameful business was to be entirely suppressed and 
yet I have been for a year among these unfortunate 
people in the district of Bahr-el-Ghazal and have 
seen how the Arab robbers in armed bands have 
fallen upon the poor negroes, carried off the young 
women and boys, driven away their herds, often 
burned their villages, and left ruin and desolation 
in their wake. It is dreadful to think that so many 
of these poor captives have perished on the way 
from hunger and brutal treatment and that they 
have been needlessly sacrificed. And yet it is 

[21] 



EMIN PASHA 



asserted that the Egyptian government has abol- 
ished the slave trade and made the exporting of 
blacks impossible." 

Emin replied in his deep, sonorous voice: "You 
have touched perhaps the most painful wound from 
which the welfare and civilization of this region, so 
richly blest by Nature, are suffering. But where 
shall one begin to cure the evil.^ The negro people 
of the interior sell their prisoners, captured in their 
petty wars, and look upon it as their surest source 
of revenue. The Niam-Niam and other tribes 
simply eat their prisoners, and it is surely a step in 
advance if they sell instead of eat the unlucky vic- 
tims. Those Arab hordes which have invaded the 
Soudan from Egypt and Nubia with their hireling 
soldiers are the worst. They have established forti- 
fied stations from which they systematically conduct 
their hunting expeditions. 

"The Nile officials should not let them escape with 
their black plunder, but no Egyptian or Turk can 
resist 'backsheesh,' and they know a thousand ways 
in which they can transport their black freight by 
night to the shores of the Red Sea and get it into 
Arabia. Those slaves which are actually sold for 
household servants are often better off, for most of 
the Moslems are kind to their servants. There is 
not much work for them, for every household has 
from twenty to thirty and sometimes fifty servants 
and they stay with the family to the end of their 
lives, for the Turks consider it dishonorable to sell 

[22] 



THE SLAVE QUESTION 

their servants. But man-hunting is not the less 
objectionable on that account, and yet how are these 
dealers to support themselves ? The government has 
monopolized the ivory business and there is nothing 
else to be found in the interior. The Moslems have 
learned no kind of hand work and they would rather 
starve than do it. I have driven that hangman's 
brood from my domain, but it was not accomplished 
without hard fighting. You can hardly imagine 
what a multitude of lazy, useless vagabonds live 
upon the poor negroes. 

"The people supply them with ivory, grain of 
various kinds, honey, wax, and butternut oil, but 
none of this comes to the government storehouse. 
It is all lavished in the most scandalous manner by 
the officials upon their hangers-on and dependents. 
These people not only pay for nothing, but they take 
everything they can. In the Amadi district, for 
instance, there are at least ten thousand negroes, 
and they had to support two thousand good-for- 
nothings by their field labor, for they have neither 
hunting nor live stock. They did not even allow 
these poor men to work quietly in their fields. If 
any complaint was made, in two days five hundred 
of them were carried off. But I have subdued them 
by fire and sword, and to-day my negroes enjoy 
their possessions and their families are brought up 
without the fear that their half-grown children will 
be carried off by brute force. 

" It is difficult to succeed here, for the government 

[231 



EMIN PASHA 



does not support me and almost feels as if the officials 
were justified in robbing the negroes, as it sometimes 
cannot pay them for a year at a time. But the 
greatest absurdity is the edict issued from Khar- 
toum, forbidding merchants to go to these provinces. 
During the whole six years of my administration 
here only nine steamers have come up the Nile, and 
we are so destitute of absolutely necessary things 
that I have to economize, for instance, in writing 
paper in continual fear that my stock will give out 
before I can get more." 

"I shall be delighted," said Dr. Junker with a 
smile, "if I can help you with some trifles. I have 
still a hamper which I brought out of the wilderness 
that has not been touched, filled with all those 
objects that they do not care for there, and with 
which they would part for money." "No, no, I do 
not need them," replied Emin. "In a few weeks I 
shall be at home. How precious the word sounds!" 
But Junker produced his treasures, spread them out 
on the big tables, and invited Emin and his officers 
to help themselves. 

All were delighted. A little package of cigarette 
paper was instantly pounced upon. A little Parisian 
folding table with two leaves, a woven hammock and 
a large tent screen were given to Emin as a present. 
Books, various instruments, a revolver, and a small 
gun were also very welcome. Dr. Junker's servants 
and maids received for their share pearls, copper 
and bronze bracelets, needles, thread, knives, and 

[24] 



THE SLAVE QUESTION 

scissors, which are used as a medium of exchange 
among the savages in place of money. Linen 
garments were also divided among them, but two 
pieces of woollen stuffs and a new costume were 
retained by Dr. Junker, as he reflected that he might 
have use for them later. 



[251 



Chapter III 

The Carpenter of Dongola and the Mahdists 

" A I "\HE All-merciful God has placed the sword 
I of victory in my hands and declares to all 
1 peoples that I am the Mahdi. He has 
designated me by the white scar upon my right 
cheek. In the uproar of battle I will follow the 
gleaming banner, borne by Asrael, the death angel, 
the destroyer of my enemies." With these words 
Mohammed Achmet, the carpenter of Dongola, a 
settler upon the island of Aba, announced to the 
world his mission to purify Islam and found a kingdom 
of justice and happiness. 

This was in May, 1881. The attention of the 
Egyptian government was now fixed upon Moham- 
med Achmet. Hitherto it was hoped that they had 
only to deal with one of those fanatical outbreaks 
which are frequent in the Orient and quickly sub- 
side, but when the feast of Ramadhan occurred, the 
pallid apostle, haggard from his penitential fast, 
appeared with weapons in his hands. Several at- 
tempts to make him prisoner failed, which only 
tended to confirm the reports of his sanctity. Abu 

[26] 



CARPENTER OF DONGOLA 

Saud was slain; and Raschid Bey, who tried to 
stem his victorious course, fell at the head of his 
overwhelmingly defeated troops. The Mahdi un- 
furled the banner of revolt in the country of 
Baggaria. 

There were many grounds for discontent in the 
Soudan. The venality of the officials, the unjust 
and oppressive tax levies, the partiality shown to 
agents had quietly and slowly created excitement 
among the people. As Emin told his friend, the 
attempted suppression of the slave trade had ob- 
structed the sources of wealth and together with the 
extortionate taxes had impoverished the country 
without having beneficial effects of any kind. The 
hatred grew daily and this precept of the Koran 
found an echo in their hearts: "Slay those who 
would slay you. Slay them wherever you find them. 
Hunt them down, for the temptation to idolatry is 
worse than death." 

The revolt was now in full blast. On the seventh 
of June, 1882, the army of Jussuf Pasha was sur- 
prised in the dense forests of Mount Kadas and 
annihilated. The Mahdi, as the result of this 
victory, secured large additions to his followers, 
sent an expedition to the south, invested Kordofan, 
and made himself master of the west bank of the 
Nile. In the meantime there was such unrest in 
Alexandria that the English government took steps 
to protect its own subjects and declared its readi- 
ness to conduct operations in the Soudan. Lieu- 

127] 



EMIN PASHA 



tenant Stewart was sent to Khartoum to study the 
revolt and suggest measures for suppressing it. 
Certain operations succeeded, but the results were 
not lasting. 

In September, 1883, a large army was organized 
in command of General Hicks. This new army, of 
one thousand men, five hundred horses, and fifty- 
five hundred camels, should have been a match for 
the irregular troops of the Mahdi. The beginning 
of operations was auspicious. At AUoba one de- 
tachment of Mahdists was dispersed and on the 
second of November, while marching through a 
thickly wooded region. General Hicks attacked the 
rebels and forced them to retreat. But on the 
fourth of November they suddenly found themselves 
surrounded by a force over one hundred thousand 
strong and the heights resounded with the war cry, 
^'Ti sebil EUah," the fatalistic invocation presaging 
destruction. 

All efforts were idle. Their heroic courage could 
not enable them to break through that wall of iron 
which blocked every possible avenue of escape. On 
the afternoon of November 7 (1883) the attack was 
universal, murderous, and desperate. It was no 
longer a battle, but a massacre. Hicks was killed 
and all his soldiers with him. Mohammed Achmet 
collected the heads of the slain and sent them home 
as trophies. The cause of the prophet apparently 
was under divine protection. The revolt grew in 
importance and even the gentlest of the races made 

[28] 



CARPENTER OF DONGOLA 

common cause with the victor. The fortune of war 
also favored the rebels in the eastern Soudan. . 

In Egypt the affairs of the Soudan provinces were 
regarded as desperate, and its inability to put down 
such a formidable rebellion was clearly apparent. 
The English government advised the removal of the 
government officials and soldiers from the Soudan, 
which included Emin and his people. It was a 
heroic undertaking, but one without hope of suc- 
cess. The removal of sixty thousand people through a 
country in open revolt, swarming with fanatical 
rebels, without sufficient means of transportation of 
arrangements for subsistence, was inevitably des- 
tined to end in a catastrophe. For this difficult 
undertaking General Gordon, who had before this 
rendered important service in the Soudan, was 
again called upon. He offered himself freely and 
willingly. His was a nature whose courage increased 
with each new danger and was never troubled with 
thoughts of the morrow. At Berber he declared 
the independence of the Soudan, gave up the 
administration of Kordofan to the Mahdi, and 
re-enacted the laws for the suppression of slavery. 

On the eighteenth of February, 1884, he arrived at 
Khartoum and began at once to strengthen its 
defences. The magic of his name held the rebellion 
in check. Mohammed Achmet did not dare to 
resist him by force of arms until he had completely 
woven the threads of his mysterious plans. Gordon 
began to hope and devoted his entire attention to 

[29] 



EMIN PASHA 



the evacuation of the Soudan. But in the east, at 
Suakim, things were going badly. The govern- 
ment's troops were routed at El Teb and Sinkat, and 
Tokar fell. The rebels had the advantage of superior 
numbers. Thousands fell, but other thousands of 
the fanatics took their places. Gordon did not find 
a favorable opportunity to evacuate the Soudan. 
The English government would have nothing more 
to do with the matter, but public sentiment forced 
the premier, Gladstone, to authorize an expedition 
for the rescue of Gordon. It took a much longer 
time than was anticipated to organize this force. 

The year 1885 was an anxious one for Gordon. 
Daily and hourly he waited for news of his deliverers. 
In the meantime the Mahdi invested Khartoum. 
He knew that the magic of his name and the tri- 
umph of his cause would be established by this last 
decisive test and that he must concentrate all his 
efforts upon the Nile. The English were everywhere 
delayed. Time was pressing and delay was danger- 
ous. Two steamers at last were sent to Khartoum 
under command of Lieutenant Wilson. They came 
in sight of Khartoum on the twenty-eighth of Jan- 
uary, 1885, and were received with a fierce fire of 
artillery. The city was in possession of the Mahdi. 
Wilson again sailed down the Nile. Both steamers 
were wrecked upon rocks in the river and he himself 
reached the English camp with the sad news.^ 

^ The statements in the "Life of Gordon "in this series of "Life Stories" 
are at variance with this. According to the former, Lieutenant Wilson 

[30I 



CARPENTER OF DONGOLA 

There were only a few survivors left to tell what 
happened at Khartoum. At seven o'clock on the 
morning of the twenty-sixth of January, 1885, there 
was unexpected alarm and uproar in the city. The 
air was filled with shouts and the people were rush- 
ing about in wild disorder. The plaza, where the 
governor's palace stood, resounded with fanatical 
and insulting outcries. They were calling for 
Gordon, ''the enemy of God." Violence followed 
threats. Guns were fired, efforts were made to 
break down the palace gates, fugitives were mur- 
dered. The city was turned into a hell of cruelty 
and bloodshed. Gordon, the man ''without fear 
and without reproach," had been betrayed and sold 
to the enemy by the very men he had befriended and 
whom he was seeking to help. 

At last the great door of the palace opened and a 
man in simple military uniform, his sword by his 
side and the distinctions he had earned upon his 
breast, stepped out. It was Gordon with his arms 
crossed upon his breast. He stepped back from the 
crowd and quietly surveyed it. His heroic majesty 
affected his bloodthirsty enemies and they were 
silent. It was the last sign of respect paid to the 

left Khartoum by steamer to urge haste upon General Wolseley, who was 
coming to the rescue, but his vessel was wrecked and he was murdered 
by natives. The steamers which came in sight of Khartoum that morn- 
ing and found it in possession of the Mahdi were bringing a part of the 
rescuing force, but finding it was too late, returned. As the German 
author's statements in his "Life of Gordon" are confirmed by Sir William 
Butler, in his well-known "Life," preference should be given to it. 

[31] 



EMIN PASHA 



martyr by them. Suddenly a shot was fired and 
Gordon fell, pierced in the forehead. His head was 
carried upon a stake to the tent of Mohammed 
Achmet and his body was thrown into the Nile. 
A horrible massacre prevailed three days in the 
city. 



I321 



Chapter IV 
Calm Before the Storm 



IT is a proof of Emin's personal honor and im- 
portance, as well as of the confidence reposed 
in him by the negroes and Arabs, that this 
revolt could spread for a whole year without affect- 
ing Hat-el-Estiva more than by disquieting reports. 
It was natural for the natives to make common 
cause with the Mahdi, for the Egyptian government 
had burdened them with heavy taxation. But such 
was Emin^s high sense of justice, his compassion 
for the oppressed, and his strict dealing with unfaith- 
ful officials or plundering Dongolans that there was 
no thought of revolt. Here and there, however, he 
discovered traces of disquiet, but could not find 
who or what caused it. Meantime he learned that 
the Mahdi had captured Kordofan. Governor Lup- 
ton Pasha was forced by his own people to give up 
Bahr-el-Ghazal. The enemy was near by. The 
non-arrival of the steamer increased his embarrass- 
ment. The government at Khartoum was in the 
greatest danger and could be of no help to him and 
he was greatly incensed at his seeming neglect. 

[33] 



EMIN PASHA 



At last treason and revolt began to appear in 
Emin's province. The worst thing was the great 
uncertainty and the daily conflicting rumors. Now 
it was reported that seven thousand Arabs were 
approaching and several stations had been lost. On 
the next day messengers appeared from Bor and 
Schamlee, very important points, some of whom said 
that these places had been captured, others that they 
were all right. The bad news, however, proved to 
be true. Here and there rebellious Arabs with their 
servants and slaves were making their way through 
the country to join the Mahdists at Kordofan. The 
garrisons of stations again found it necessary to levy 
upon provisions, whereupon the negroes attacked 
and killed them. Finally, a fugitive from Kordofan 
told a strange story. The Mahdi informed his fol- 
lowers that a great commander had come to Khar- 
toum from the north with sixty thousand soldiers. 
He meant Gordon. Then he showed them three 
baskets and said in the most ecstatic manner: ''In 
these baskets are the souls of all these strangers. 
The earth will swallow up twenty thousand of them. 
Twenty thousand will disappear in the air. The 
rest will be slain by the Mahdi, the true Prophet." 
Emin was encouraged by the first part of the story. 
That so great an army should be near gave him 
courage and hope for release. 

The seven thousand Arabs which had been re- 
ported did not appear, for they had gone to swell 
the force at Kordofan and the real enemy confined 

[34I 



CALM BEFORE THE STORM 

itself to the Arabian domains in the province. The 
west stations were strongly fortified. Several of 
the unimportant ones had been abandoned, but 
Amadi, a strong frontier fortress and the bulwark of 
Lado, was surrounded by ramparts and had a large 
garrison. It could resist the onrush of the enemy 
possibly until the rainy season, but after that help 
must come from Khartoum. 

Meanwhile the days slipped quietly by without 
bringing any decisive result, good or bad. Emin 
had grown gray from anxiety. He would not sur- 
render his province to the enemy at any cost, but 
was it in his power to drive back the Mahdists 
when they came by hundreds of thousands.'^ On 
the other hand, there were all his faithful ones, his 
negroes, who loved him like a father, exposed to an 
uncertain fate. He resolved to do everything pos- 
sible to hold the government of this beautiful country, 
though he knew not whether there was still a govern- 
ment. 

The governor concealed his anxieties and doubts 
from his officials so as not to dishearten them and 
determined upon an undertaking which should divert 
the thoughts of the people from the uncertain future. 
He decided to strengthen the defences of Lado and 
with the help of the soldiers and natives to dig a 
deep moat around the station and utilize the dirt 
thrown out as trenches. The work was directed by 
Mahmoud Effendi, an Egyptian officer, who had 
served in the last Russo-Turkish war and was a very 

[35] 



EMIN PASHA 



skilful engineer. Hundreds of men worked from 
morning until night and by the end of October the 
moat was extended to the river. The Nile was 
then at its high stage and the water flowed into this 
new canal, in which later draw wells were made for 
watering. At the main entrance to the station, from 
the west, a passageway was left. Dr. Junker ad- 
vised the construction of a small drawbridge at that 
point and Mahmoud Effendi supervised and con- 
structed it very skilfully, notwithstanding his scanty 
material. Emin and Dr. Junker in turn daily super- 
vised the work, which was now progressing satis- 
factorily. Some little pieces were played by their 
trumpeter for the encouragement of the soldiers and 
Emin Pasha himself often enjoyed it among his 
sugar canes and lemon trees. 

In the meantime there was a lack of the most 
necessary things. They lived principally upon the 
red durra, a species of millet, which had a bitter and 
unpleasant flavor. There was a certain amount of 
meat on hand, far from sufficient, however, and in 
place of other drinks they were supplied with a 
liquor made by themselves and served in such 
abundance to the soldiers that it resulted in universal 
drunkenness. The coffee was almost too bad to 
drink, being adulterated with mallow seeds. Sugar 
had long given out and honey was used in its place. 
Emin had made a valuable collection of ivory with 
which in Europe he could have procured himself and 
his officials the choicest dainties and all imaginable 

[36] 



CALM BEFORE THE STORM 

pleasures. There, however, it would purchase 
nothing and it was unlikely that the valuable stuff 
could be taken to the coast and made of any use. 

Their clothing was in rags. Wool was spun by 
the negroes, but unfortunately the material was 
lacking. Skins were tanned and used as garments 
and they imitated a practice of the savages. They 
stripped the bark from certain trees and by careful 
scraping it produced a pliant stuff of a beautiful 
red or yellow color which hung from their shoulders 
in picturesque folds. Their shoes were very neat, 
for a skilful negro made them precisely like the 
European. Shoes were really indispensable there as 
the roads are so rough that unshod feet are easily 
injured. 

The Christmas festival drew near, but it brought 
no pleasure. Emin and Junker sat together one 
evening. They had not a drop of wine. For a 
year and a half they had had no news from the out- 
side; not a word of encouragement had reached 
them. Many a time they felt as if they should never 
again meet with their own kind, as if they were 
spellbound in a strange world among fierce savages 
and bloodthirsty men. Their simple and often 
scanty dinners were marked by a ceremoniousness 
and an expense in service which would seem amusing 
to an unprejudiced spectator. On New Year's Day, 
1885, Dr. Junker put on a fine, light gray European 
dress, saved over from better days, and came to 
wish the governor good luck. The officials went to 

[37] 



EMIN PASHA 



the divan to greet him and were received in order 
according to their rank and served with sherbet, 
coffee, and cigarettes, treasures set apart for this 
day's pleasure which gave all the more satisfaction 
as they had been so long deprived of them. 

During all this time Emin Pasha never left Lado. 
Notwithstanding all his anxiety his scientific activity 
remained unabated. He took observations of the 
weather every morning and entered them in his 
diary. He paid a skilful Arab, Gason Allah, for 
keeping up his collection of stuffed birds. The 
Arab came early in the morning to receive his orders 
concerning hunting expeditions and sometimes the 
region thereabouts was traversed a week at a time to 
secure birds of different kinds. Emin Pasha him- 
self was too shortsighted for hunting; indeed he 
could hardly recognize a person ten steps away. 
His warm interest in scientific studies helped him 
pass away these lonesome hours. 

Thus we see the genial man in the midst of the 
alarming dangers which menaced him on all sides 
and the pressing cares which weighed him down, 
sitting quietly like a true philosopher and statesman 
and attending to his duties. Nothing can disturb 
his lofty thought, his proud calmness, his unshaken 
self-composure. He presents the type of a man 
whose mighty influence these uncultivated Arabs 
and negroes could not resist, and which strengthened 
all in holding out against the danger encompassing 
them on every side. 

[38] 



Chapter V 

The Enemy Approaches 



THUS patiently waiting, each daily duty was 
accomplished. Then came alarming news 
from the north. Kerem Allah spread 
broadcast this proclamation of the Mahdi written 
in the bombastic style of the Orient: 

**In the name of God, the all merciful, all pitiful! Glory 
to God, our gracious Lord and our prayers and submis- 
sion to our master Mohammed and his own. 

''This from Mohammed, the Mahdi, Son of Abdallah, 
to his representative, Kerem Allah, son of the Sheik 
Mohammed, upon whom may God shine in His goodness 
and ever protect. Amen! 

"Receive from me this greeting and the mercy and 
blessing of God. I desire you to know that in accordance 
with the unfailing promises of God and His unchanging 
goodness, the city of Khartoum was captured with the 
help of the Living and Eternal on Monday, the ninth 
Rebi Ahir of the current year, early in the morning. 
The soldiers of the faithful stormed the entrenchments 
with faith in God, the Lord of the world, and in a quarter 
of an hour or less the enemies of God fell into their hands. 

[39] 



EMIN PASHA 



They were destroyed to the very last one and their de- 
fences also. Although they were strong they were shat- 
tered at the first attack of the army of God and sought 
safety by rushing into the villages, but our army followed 
them and slew them all with sword and lance. The others 
who had closed their doors in their fright were taken prisoners 
and killed and only a few of the women and children were 
spared. But Gordon, the enemy of God, whom we have 
often admonished and warned to desist and surrender to 
God, has never consented since he was a rebel and leader 
before. So he met his fate, reaping what he had sowed, 
and God sent him to the place of His wrath, and thus the 
house of the unjust was destroyed, thanks be to God, 
Lord of the world, who chastises those who deserve it 
with fire and rewards the just with a home in Paradise. 
God protect thee from the faithless. Amen, with the 
sanction of the Highest and Greatest, the Sender of good. 
Only ten of our own followers died the death of faith in 
this victory and no others were injured. This is the 
mercy of God and from him is the victory for which we 
give Him thanks. And do the same and take my greeting. 

Kerem Allah 

Representative of the Mahdi in Bahr-el-Ghazal and 
Hat-el-Estiva 

January 28, 1885 

Upon the heels of these dreadful tidings came 
the news that Amadi had fallen. Singularly 
enough this lesser calamity made more impression 
than the terrible event at Khartoum, for the con- 
nection with Egypt was now forever broken and 

[40] 




A 



SERIOUS ACCIDENT TO EM IN 



THE ENEMY APPROACHES 

all hope of help from the north vanished. But 
as false reports had come from Kerem Allah so fre- 
quently they simply did not believe it, but regarded 
it rather as an invention intended to induce Emin to 
surrender. Great differences of opinion existed as 
to the measures to be adopted. Some were in favor 
of retreating northward, but Emin regarded the 
road to the south as the only right one. The force 
of Kerem Allah was only five miles distant and in 
one day they could reach Lado and then there would 
no longer be room for hope. 

Captain Casati, an Italian traveller, who was in 
Lado at this time, as it was too hot at Bahr-el- 
Ghazal, vigorously opposed Emin's decision. "I 
know that the danger is imminent,'' he said, *^but 
that is no reason why we should fly." 

"But what else can we do?" 

"Defend ourselves. Lado cannot fall in a short 
time. The enemy cannot long maintain a siege with 
many people, for the country is destitute of sub- 
sistence. He must buy corn at Makraka and that 
is a long way off. 

"But they are already well provided. The Arabs 
supply them with everything they need, and we 
here in Lado, even if we are not overcome by arms, 
will perish from hunger." 

"That cannot be possible. We have the river 
behind us. We can get corn from the fertile country 
of Gondokoro." 

Yes, but if we go southward we will find corn in 

[41] 



a 



EMIN PASHA 



the country of the Mahdi, and if we get through to 
Lut it will be easy for us to establish communication 
with Unjoro and Uganda." 

''My dear Doctor, do you not think the retreat 
will be even more difficult and dangerous than the 
defence?" 

''How? What have we to fear?" 

"Kerem Allah, you say, is marching victoriously 
against Lado. Before he succeeds he will find out 
what direction we are taking for our retreat. He will 
follow us, not by way of the river, but by a shorter 
route across the country. Imagine yourself attacked 
from the heights and cut off from the river and tell 
me then if there will not be a catastrophe." 

"What would you do? What do you think?" 

"Leave the country by the northeast. But to do 
this the retreat must be made cautiously and quietly. 
I am not speaking of the soldiers. Alarmed by the 
fall of Amadi, they will not resist a retreat. And if 
we take a northward route, they will be more confi- 
dent and follow." 

"And do you think that such a plan, if I submit 
it to my officers, will be accepted?" 

"Without doubt. They will depend upon the as- 
surances of their master as usual and give their full 



consent." 



In the morning after this conversation Emin held 
a council in the divan at which all the officers and 
officials were present. The decision was left to them 
whether they should go north or south. "To the 

[42] 



THE ENEMY APPROACHES 

south," was the universal answer. Possibly they 
had the feeling that Emin favored that direction. 

Casati was very indignant, but Emin was right. 
Going to the north through a country subject to the 
Mahdi, with distant Egypt as their terminus, while 
Khartoum lay in ashes, was going to certain death. 
Certainly if the governor had acted without the con- 
sent of his people, they would have believed the 
senseless report that he would sell them as slaves in 
Unjoro and there make his escape to the coast alone. 
Emin's black soldiers were not accustomed to yield 
absolute obedience. From time to time their oppo- 
sition had to be overcome by the lash, and who can 
say that they might not finally have made a suc- 
cessful resistance when they found themselves leaving 
their homes and wandering about in unknown re- 
gions ? In the meantime Emin went south with his 
whole force, officials, wives, and children, and piles 
of baggage to establish himself at his residence in 
Madelai. No Mahdist disturbed the expedition nor 
did they hear of pursuit or any attempt to cut them 
off. Casati had taken too gloomy a view of the 
situation. 

In Madelai they heard nothing of the fearful hordes 
of Kerem Allah. The people gladly turned to farm 
labor and the looms were at work again. Emin 
resumed his scientific pursuits and had it not been 
for his utter seclusion from the world and his lack of 
ammunition which had been nearly exhausted in 
subduing the savages in his vicinity, he and his 

[43] 



EMIN PASHA 



people, who were absolutely loyal to him, might 
have been glad to remain to the end of their lives in 
this lost nook of the world. It was imperative, how- 
ever, to secure the possibility of return, and on this 
account Casati was sent to King Kabrega at Unjoro, 
whom Emin had previously known and who had 
given him many proofs of his friendship. 



[44] 



Chapter VI 
CasatVs Adventure 



ON the second of June, 1886, Casati had a 
public audience with King Kabrega. The 
monarch wore an elegant cloak of wonderful 
fineness and a red head-covering in the Arab style. 
He sat in a great armchair with his "exalted" feet 
resting upon a beautiful leopard skin. His colossal 
figure, which was above the ordinary height, an 
expressive countenance, rather overbearing than 
friendly, and his very ready tongue and studied 
movements made a pleasant impression upon every- 
one who met him for the first time. His first-born 
son sat at his left, upon a stool, the others standing. 
His leaders were camped in a circle about the cabins, 
sitting, Arab fashion, upon the ground covered with 
green papyrus. Behind the king there hung a silk 
drapery of Indian handiwork, brought from Zanzibar, 
and behind this drapery from time to time children's 
faces, full of curiosity, peeped out. Six youths of 
the most distinguished families, with weapons in 
their hands, stood around the throne. Casati sat 

[45] 



EMIN PASHA 



at the right of the king, a few steps distant, and 
presented the message of the governor. 

Emin requested a free and open way for the trans- 
mission of his letters to the coast, free passage of 
soldiers and officials to Egypt, and lastly the privi- 
lege of securing produce from the merchants of 
Unjoro and the sending of a representative to Made- 
lai. The king seemingly assented to all the propo- 
sitions, but Casati quickly observed that a hostile 
faction ruled him and that his good intentions might 
not be carried out. The passage of the post was 
permitted, but letters coming from the coast had to 
be submitted to certain conditions. Troops were 
also allowed free passage, but only in single detach- 
ments and a limited number at a time, which made 
it easy to attack and destroy them. Kabrega agreed 
to send a representative to Madelai and was gener- 
ous in words and promises for his 'Moctor friend,'' 
as he called the governor. The second audience took 
place on the tenth of October, 1886. 

''The governor," said Casati, ''begs permission to 
establish two military stations on the lake" (Albert 
Lake). 

"And what are you going to do at the lake.^" 

"The soldiers at the northern stations are in daily 
danger of attack by the rebels at Khartoum." 

"So, you intend to take possession of my terri- 
tory?" 

"On the contrary, our stay will be short. At a 
favorable opportunity we will withdraw and you 

[46] 



CASATI'S ADVENTURE 

will not only be ruler of Schull and Lut, but will 
have the warehouses which are well supplied with 
ivory, iron, and brass. The two Egyptian steamers 
in a short time will enable you to compare in re- 
sources with Waganda. But why do no brokers 
come here? It seems impossible that Mackay [a 
business friend in Zanzibar], after all the promises 
he has made us, should not be interested in our 
favor." 

''The Wagandans have placed obstacles in the 
brokers' way. But have the Arabs never delivered 
letters or newspapers to you.^" 

"No, we should not venture to avail ourselves of 
their services without your permission. But we are 
not concerned about the Arabs leaving us, for the 
moment we have the royal word that is sufficient 
security for us." 

"Yes, you can depend upon me. I am Emin 
Pasha's friend." 

"Then will you grant what I have asked .^" 

"This very moment I grant what my friend asks. 
Establish your stations on the lake. I will issue 
orders to my chiefs to furnish corn to the soldiers who 
are stationed there." 

I pray you for another favor." 
Speak. I am ready to grant whatever you wish." 
Biri [an Arab trader] left the coast for here two 
months ago and is detained by your people on the 
frontier. Issue an order for them to let him come." 
And how do you know Biri is there?" 

[47] 



a 



6i 



a 



EMIN PASHA 



*^I know it." 

*'Who told you about it?" 

^* No one." 

"It cannot be possible." 

"Oh yes, very possible. Listen to me. When 
Dr. Junker left [Junker went to Zanzibar when all 
hope of going to the northern route vanished] he 
promised the governor to send necessary supplies by 
Biri. It is not only possible, but certain, that he 
must be here." 

"Biri is sent to make trouble in my kingdom. He 
shall not set foot in it." 

"You are wrong. He must come. We are here 
in consequence of your express assurances. We ex- 
pect that they will be carried out." 

"It is my people who do not wish Biri to come 
here. I cannot oppose them. It is for my interest 
to keep their good-will." 

"It is the evil Abd Rahmann [one of Kabrega's 
ministers] who is ruining your country with his 
pernicious influence." 

"I am the king. I command and do not need 
instruction from anyone as to my duties." 

"I well understand the truth hurts you, but you 
cannot prevent it being told to you. Emin Pasha 
wishes Biri to come. If you do not obey, he will feel 
compelled to resort to other means." 

"And what?" 

"He will write to Said Bargash of the Egyptian 
government. What will you say then?" 

[48] 



CASATI'S ADVENTURE 

" By what route can he send letters if I close mine ? " 

"By a hundred ways, for there are as many. He 
first applied to you because he regarded you as a 
friend and not because necessity forced him to." 

"It is not possible that Emin would have thought 
of this if you had not made the suggestion. This 
plan for my disadvantage originated with you." 

"It is an honest man who is speaking to you. If 
I had been dishonest I would have overwhelmed 
you with compliments to secure your favor and 
attention." 

"Biri shall come in the morning." 

"Good! I thank you." 

Biri came and Emin awaited him with his steamer. 
His joy was great, for the supplies were urgently 
needed. He went back with a handsome quantity of 
ivory to be used in exchange and left hope in all 
hearts for the future. But things went far differ- 
ently in Unjoro. The old minister Katagora, Emin's 
stanch friend, died suddenly and, as was openly de- 
clared, by poison. On the morning of his death the 
king declared that from now on he would rule with 
the small and no longer be influenced, by the great, 
and the dying minister suddenly heard at the door 
of the palace a crowd of boys shouting, "He's dying 



now." 



It was only his inordinate eagerness for ivory and 
weapons that induced Kabrega's apparent friend- 
ship. His hostile feelings began daily to reveal 
themselves. Merchants were strictly forbidden to 

[49] 



EMIN PASHA 



sell their wares to Emin's people. One Abu Bekr, 
who brought supplies for the government from 
Uganda, was set upon, robbed, and driven across 
the borders. The natives were forbidden to sell 
corn and other produce to Casati. The ivory sent 
to the king as compensation for allowing Biri's 
caravan to pass through the country was sent back. 

"The horns of my cows," said Kabrega, who was 
very proud of his herds, to Casati, "are longer than 
the elephant tusks you have sent me. I don't know 
what to do with them." 

"I am sorry," replied Casati, "that the king dis- 
turbs our good relations upon such empty pretences. 
So far as the ivory is concerned, I will hold it subject 
to his orders." 

The whole of the next year was occupied in dip- 
lomatic efforts to secure the good-will of Kabrega, 
but he had learned that Emin's strength was not so 
very great and Casati, who would not forsake his 
post or do anything to diminish the importance of 
the governor, was treated disrespectfully. On the 
third of January, a messenger came from the south 
with the news that Europeans with a well-armed 
force, in Zanzibar dress, had arrived there. "God 
be thanked for his help in time of need." But 
Casati was rejoicing too soon, for the arrival of the 
strangers exposed him to new dangers. 

The report of this invasion by armed Europeans 
of course reached Kabrega and aroused all his sus- 
picions. Had he not already conjectured that 

I so] 



CASATI'S ADVENTURE 

Emin would construct those stations on the lake 
because he had designs upon his country? All his 
promises to withdraw from the stations some day 
and leave him with great riches were nothing but 
empty deceit! Now help was coming from the south, 
a strong army with European guns, that would 
attack his country on two sides, capture Unjoro and 
settle down there as white men had often treated 
other negro races. But this treacherous messenger 
who had deceived him all the time and kept him to 
suspense should pay the penalty. Casati knew his 
danger, but he faced it bravely. On the ninth of 
January, 1888, the Vizier Guakamatera invited him 
to come and see him. Casati went with Biri, who 
was there at the time, and his faithful companions, to 
the house of the great dignitary. What was their 
astonishment as they came in sight of it to find it 
surrounded by a large armed force! Biri whispered, 
*'Let us go back." 

" It is useless. We must go forward and hasten our 
steps," said Casati. 

At the foot of an ancient tree, which was majestic 
in the abundance of its foliage as well as in its height, 
sat the high priest with the minor magicians around 
him. He wore a splendid turban of red stuff, 
decorated with glass pearls and shells, and from his 
temples projected two ox horns upon which hung 
little wooden talismans. In his left hand he held 
a great horn filled with a magic powder and in his 
right the conjuring staff. He wore a white cloak of 

[51] 



EMIN PASHA 



oxhide fastened to his left shoulder and sat upon a 
small stool in a serious manner befitting his high 
dignity. 

The palace door opened, trumpets sounded, and 
the vizier appeared, surrounded by soldiers. The 
troops scattered about the place, savage, naked 
figures with rattling iron rings fastened to their 
feet and hands, and arranged themselves in a close 
circle a little distance away. They were armed with 
guns, spears, shields, bows and arrows, fully a 
thousand strong. A mysterious frigid silence, which 
denoted an extraordinary event, pervaded the as- 
semblage. All eyes were fixed upon Guakamatera, 
whose colossal figure towered above those around 
him. ^'This is treachery," whispered Casati in 
Biri's ear. ''May God help us! All hope is useless. 
We must show courage." 

Perhaps ten minutes passed after the coming of 
the vizier. ; Suddenly he raised his right arm. The 
signal was given. The air was filled with savage 
cries. The savages rushed upon their victims, seized 
them and bound them to trees hand and foot, so 
tightly that they could not move. 

Guakamatera approached Casati. "I am going 
by command of my king to your lodging. I know 
that you have an armed force there, which has come 
secretly and gradually from Wadelai, and with which 
you have intended to get possession of the country. 
Woe to them if they make the least resistance. They 
shall be killed at once." 

[52] 



CASATI'S ADVENTURE 

"Under the conditions in which you have placed 
me by the order of your king," replied Casati, "I 
cannot be answerable for anything that may happen 
when you reach my house. In the meantime I 
advise you to take my companion with you. He 
can carry instructions from me and they will be 
faithfully obeyed." 

"Good! Give him the instructions." 

"The government's soldiers shall lay down their 
arms, and my companion shall obey at once what 
Guakamatera orders. No one shall oppose him or 
protest." 

The vizier left, accompanied by his troops, leav- 
ing three hundred behind to guard the prisoners. 
Casati's house was searched. AH the collections to 
which he had devoted a lifetime, as well as Biri's 
goods, were carried away and the servants were 
made prisoners. Naturally their treatment was 
no milder than that to which their master was 
subjected. The vizier returned about five in the 
afternoon, the prisoners having stood tightly bound 
during his absence, without a drop of water to 
quench their thirst and exposed to the maltreat- 
ment and insults of the brutal guards. He had put 
on finer attire and seated himself in the great judges' 
chair, while his warriors gathered about him to 
receive instructions. 

"These men," he said, pointing to the prisoners, 
"have called the Wagandans into the country [a 
pure invention]. Your women and children have 

[S3] 



EMIN PASHA 



been carried off, your houses burned, your property 
stolen, and your harvest destroyed. The king will 
visit justice for their crimes and relies upon my arms 
for revenge." A dismal howl full of menace broke 
out. ^'Gobia, gobia" ["traitors, traitors"]. 

Casati and Biri were unbound and removed to 
the place of justice and were surrounded by a new 
force of warriors. Casati entered the circle and met 
his servants. He seemed to them like one risen from 
the dead. The sight of their beloved master filled 
them all with new hopes. The place where they 
found themselves was ominous. The great wooden 
drums were covered with the blood of victims. They 
must make an attempt at flight. 

"There is no place except this thicket of thorns 
which is not beset by warriors," said one of his men, 
an active, nimble fellow who had been making 
observations. 

"Good! We will throw ourselves on all fours and 
make a rush through it." 

No sooner said than done. They got through the 
thicket and kept on their way, but soon encountered 
a reserve of the negroes. It was impossible to de- 
fend themselves, so they left the road and escaped 
by the aid of the tall grass. Their flight that day 
was beset by dangers. Whenever they ventured out 
of the woods to buy sweet potatoes or beans with 
glass beads, the negroes would drive them off with 
threats. King Kabrega's direful orders followed 
them everywhere. Fortunately, however, they 

[54] 



CASATI'S ADVENTURE 

found a friend in this wilderness. A young Dinka 
woman, who had escaped the brutality of an Egyp- 
tian official by Emin Pasha's interference, brought 
them by night a great dish of beans and the com- 
forting assurance that Emin would be on the lake, 
January eleventh, with two steamers. This aroused 
fresh hope that, in spite of their wounded feet and 
aching limbs, of hunger and thirst, they would 
reach the shores of the lake. Their armed pursuers 
were near them. They climbed hills through thorns 
and bushes, falling and getting up again, in anxious 
silence. Their pursuers had surrounded them and 
the bushes crackled about them. They reached the 
top of a hill and heard excited discussions going on 
around them, loud, threatening voices, and excited 
rushing about, and soon a sudden, hasty, headlong 
flight. 

*'What has happened .f^" Casati's servant, who 
was a little ahead, came back trembling with joy. 
"The steamer, the steamer!" he shouted, running 
down from the summit. Help in time of need, and 
it was high time. The exhausted men could hardly 
stand and they were still a long way from the lake. 
The sun was setting and it was too late to attract 
the notice of the crew. A long dreary night was 
passed upon the shore of the lake without food and 
enveloped in a dense cold mist. 

The next morning a large cloth was fastened to 
a pole for a signal. About nine o'clock a cloud 
of smoke appeared upon the horizon. Anxious 

[551 



EMIN PASHA 



moments followed. Would the rescuers see them? 
Thank God! the outline of the steamer grew ever 
larger and it was approaching steadily and swiftly. 
The poor fugitives waved their flag, a shrieking 
whistle answered, replied to by loud cheers. A boat 
with the rescued ones on board, Emin Pasha, and 
several officers and officials had come to fetch them, 
more out of pity than with any prospect of success. 
All were speechless with joy over the unexpected 
rescue. 



i 

i 



t5«] 



Chapter VII 
In Need of Help 



DURING this time Emin's circumstances had 
taken a turn for the better. He had re- 
ceived letters through Biri from the coast. 
A regular postal service was established and his 
dreary isolation was at an end. He also learned that 
Dr. Fischer, the experienced explorer, had under- 
taken an expedition for his rescue in 1886, but only- 
got as far as the Victoria Nyanza, for the Wagandans 
would not allow him to go further. He returned to 
Germany and died shortly afterwards in conse- 
quence of his hardships. Next Emin received an 
official despatch in French from Cairo, from the 
Egyptian government, informing him that it was not 
impossible they might have to evacuate the Soudan. 
In case this occurred, Emin was given full permis- 
sion to leave the Equatorial Provinces and for this 
purpose he was authorized to draw upon the Eng- 
lish Consul General at Zanzibar. Emin was 
bitterly incensed at the cold business tone of the 
government. It had not a word of thanks or of 
recognition of all his cares, troubles, and struggles 

[57] 



EMIN PASHA 



for three years, not a word of regret that he was com- 
pelled to labor so many years without any support, 
and often hungry and in need. And not a word of 
encouragement for the task imposed upon him of 
taking the Egyptians home. An empty title, that 
of Pasha, was all the reward for his exertions. 

They fancied in Egypt that all Emin needed to do 
was to pack up his effects and go by the coast to 
Zanzibar. It never occurred to them that the great- 
est obstacle in Emin's way was his own Egyptian 
officers and soldiers. While at Khartoum he had 
repeatedly notified the government that it ought to 
change garrisons every two years, but it had never 
made any reply. The larger part of his people, who 
had never left the country, wanted to stay at home 
and live as their ancestors had lived. For the 
Egyptians the Equatorial Provinces had become a 
second home and more of a Paradise than they had 
ever found in their native land. They had married 
and founded families, they had bought or stolen 
slaves, they had cattle and goats. As they could not 
have these things in Egypt, why should they leave 
such a country.'^ Gordon had to meet the same 
difficulties when he undertook the evacuation of the 
entire Soudan. He too knew that such a problem 
could not be solved. 

Emin's subordinates had very little confidence in 
the Egyptian government, for they had been without 
pay or provisions for a year. Again, the people could 
not understand why the government intended giving 

158] 



I 



IN NEED OF HELP 



up the whole of the Soudan. No one had the most 
distant idea that the Mahdi's troops could stand 
against the Egyptian army. Not a person in the 
Equatorial Provinces believed the reports of previous 
defeat or the destruction of Hicks Pasha's army. 
So the efforts of Emin to concentrate his entire 
strength in the Soudan were fruitless. His officers 
had no intention of leaving Lado. Unfortunately 
the despatch referring to evacuation was in French. 
Its genuineness was not only doubted, but it was 
regarded as an invention of Emin's. With the inten- 
tion of going southward and thence to the east 
coast, Emin sent messengers to Lado to prepare his 
people for their departure. A letter informed him 
that in consequence of his orders revolt was spread- 
ing and no one would go to the south. If they were 
forced to go, they would seize all the weapons and 
supplies and kill all who opposed them. 

Signs of this revolt were speedily apparent. In 
the middle of March, 1886, the old subordinate 
officers and the people of Bornu, Adamana, and other 
places united in a plot to kill the officers at Lado as 
well as the Soudanese and found a free state. An 
Egyptian officer heard of it and reported it to his 
superior, who placed the leaders in chains, but some 
days later let them go unpunished — a mistaken 
clemency for such a time. In Dufile a sergeant fired 
at his officer, but missed him. 

During this time of uneasiness Emin undertook 
three journeys to the Albert Nyanza and discovered 

159] 



EMIN PASHA 



a large river flowing from the south, the one called 
Semliki by Stanley, and the last of the hitherto un- 
known Nile branches. For political reasons Emin 
devoted his entire attention to that region which 
appeared to him the one which they had selected for 
the retreat. Thereupon he proceeded with repairs 
on his two steamers. 

By the middle of April, 1887, twelve stations were 
in Emin's possession, nearly all of them those which 
Gordon had intrusted to him in his time. In a 
letter to Dr. Felkir he writes: *'We sow, harvest, 
spin, and live every day as if it were to continue 
forever. It is curious how one long shut away from 
the world develops his vegetative faculties. I shall 
not leave my people. We have had hard and 
troublous days together and I should consider it 
shameful to desert my post. We have known each 
other for long years and I do not believe that my 
successor could gain their confidence.'' 

He is now preparing to leave the country with his 
people, but not until a relief expedition reaches him. 
That such an expedition is on the way he knows of a 
certainty. His European friends have communi- 
cated to him their intention of helping him to carry 
out his plans. 



[60] 



Chapter VIII 
Stanley Comes to the Relief of Emin 



THE scanty news from the heart of Africa 
relating to this heroic man, forsaken by all 
the world, doing his duty and remaining at 
his post undisturbed by any thought of danger or 
death, and deserted by the government he repre- 
sented, aroused interest and increasing sympathy in 
Europe. In England especially it was regarded as a 
duty to help Emin, thereby making some reparation 
for the dilatory policy which had sacrificed Gordon, 
and with him the whole Soudan. Emin's letter to 
Dr. Felkir was published in the London Times^ in the 
autumn of 1886, and led to the organization of an 
Emin Pasha Relief Committee, under the presi- 
dency of Sir William MacKinnon. This committee 
quickly raised a large sum for the fitting out of a 
great expedition under command of Henry Morton 
Stanley, the founder of the Congo Free State and 
African expert. 

Stanley came at once from America and secured 
all the necessary supplies, weapons, and articles for 
barter in such quantities that Emin could hardly 

[61] 



EMIN PASHA 



have long contained himself had he possessed them. 
Nine Europeans, at the cost of much self-sacrifice, 
accompanied the expedition as officers. Among 
them was Dr. Parke, a noble friend of humanity, 
who had acquired great fame by alleviating the 
fearful sufferings of travellers and saving many lives. 
The next step was the selection of a route and Stanley 
chose one along the Congo and across the equator, a 
hitherto untraversed region. He had a special 
reason for selecting this route. He was anxious to 
complete his earlier discoveries and the possibility of 
going across Africa with such a large and finely 
equipped expedition might not occur again, for he 
had over six hundred carriers besides soldiers with 
him and he feared that these people might desert 
him and go back to the east coast if he went by way 
of Zanzibar. As they were situated, they had to 
follow him if they wished to get home again, for 
flight would only take them to unknown regions 
where death certainly awaited them. 

Losing very little time, Stanley went to Egypt 
and secured from the Khedive an official letter to 
Emin and then went on to Zanzibar to get the 
necessary people. He was especially fortunate in 
securing Tippoo Tib, a leading trader and investor 
in Central Africa, and a near neighbor of the Congo 
Free State. Stanley feared if he did not attach this 
man to his service, who had almost princely power, 
the Arabs in the interior might play havoc with his 
expedition. His preparations gave him more trouble 

[62] 



i 



STANLEY COMES TO RELIEF 

than he had expected. When he reached the mouth 
of the Congo and found the vessels which the King 
of Belgium had placed at his disposal, they were all 
unfit for use. It was only with the greatest exer- 
tions that three of them were put in tolerable condi- 
tion. They had hardly gone a mile when the screw 
of the steamer Peace gave out. Then the steamer 
Stanley got out of order and there was no end to 
his troubles and disappointments. The situation, 
however, was not very serious so long as they were 
sailing up the river and ever and again passing 
stations belonging to the Congo Free State. At 
last, however, they must leave the river and travel 
on foot through an unknown wilderness. 

Owing to the unfitness of the steamers, the larger 
part of the baggage had been left behind and was to 
be brought through the forests by Tippoo Tib's 
carriers. Stanley was eager to advance, for the last 
he heard from Emin was the words, "If Stanley 
does not come soon, we shall be lost." He there- 
fore decided to go ahead with the best of his men, 
leaving a rearguard at Jambuja under Major Barte- 
lot. The major was assigned the unenviable duty 
of awaiting the arrival of the baggage and carriers 
with two hundred sick and crippled men on his 
hands, and then follow Stanley by routes which 
would be marked out for him. Greatly to his con- 
solation, Lieutenant Jameson was left with him. 
Jephson and Dr. Parke were with the advance. 
Many hands were busied with preparations for 

[63] 



EMIN PASHA 



departure and then the horn gave the signal for 
advance. Stanley took the lead, with Lieutenant 
Nelson in the rear, to prevent straggling. 

"Which way is it, guide.'"' asked Stanley of a tall 
naked man with a magnificent helmet, such as the 
Greeks used to wear. 

"This way, which leads to the sunset," he replied. 

"How many miles is it to the next village.'*" 

"God only knows," was the answer. 

"Is there no village or country in any direction.'^" 

"Not one that I know of." 

This was all known by the most knowing one in the 
expedition. 

"Now then, forward in God's name. May God 
be with us! Keep to the course along the river 
until we find a road." 

"Bismillah!" shouted the carriers. The trumpets 
of the Nubians blew the signal "forward," and 
shortly after this the head of the column disappeared 
in the dense thickets on the outer limits of the 
forests of Jambuja. 

This was on the twenty-eighth of June, 1887, and 
until the fifth of December, one hundred and sixty 
days, the expedition traversed woods and thickets 
without seeing a bit of grassland. For miles nothing 
could be seen but forests of trees of various ages 
and heights, with more or less thick underbrush. 
For the first time a hitherto unknown region was 
exposed to the gaze of civilized man. 

The march was entirely conjectural, as it led 

[641 



STANLEY COMES TO RELIEF 

through a hitherto untrodden and pathless wilder- 
ness and in some places it dragged along like a 
funeral procession. Its difficulties were increased by 
frequent rainstorms, which in that region are like a 
deluge. They are also accompanied by violent 
winds, which shake the countless branches so that 
they drench man and beast with an additional 
downpour and rage as if they would tear the trees 
up by the roots. Their fear was still further in- 
creased by terrible peals of thunder reverberating 
through the forest and the lightning flashes hurtling 
through the air and sometimes taking the form of 
exploding bolts. 

It was a great relief when the sick and injured 
were at last delivered from this elemental strife 
which Stanley said was more dreadful than a Euro- 
pean battle. His men seemed to be almost paralyzed 
by fear, suffering, sickness, loss of friends, hunger, 
rain, thunder, and general wretchedness. They 
sought shelter under banana trees, shields of the 
natives, woollen covers, straw mats, earthen and 
copper pots, saddles, tent covers, each one enveloped 
in a blue mist and completely overcome by speech- 
less terror. The poor donkeys, with ears thrown 
back, closed eyes, and drooping heads, and the 
caged fowl, with their bedraggled feathers, added to 
the general wretchedness of appearance. Hunger, 
sickness, and wounds from the thorns in the woods 
disabled many. They were also exposed to the poi- 
soned arrows of lurking savages. One or another of 

[65] 



EMIN PASHA 



the carriers would disappear, taking his valuable 
pack with him. Each day some were prostrated by 
exhaustion, never to rise again. It was almost 
unendurable misery, and yet the cry was *' forward, 
forward." 

During the days that were free from rain, an 
unnatural darkness prevailed in the forest. The 
travellers now encountered slippery tree trunks, 
bridging over dangerous abysses, which threatened to 
pierce them with the sharp points of their projecting 
dead branches as they rushed down hillsides upon 
them. Upon one of these they had to cross a rush- 
ing stream, balancing themselves upon its slippery 
surface. Anon they plunged into a thicket, where 
they were nearly suffocated by the myriads of tangled 
vines and bushes that coiled about them. Soon 
they came to a morass whose dangerous depths were 
concealed by floating plants and scum. At every 
step their difficulties so increased that Stanley at 
last declared they had done enough for the day and 
would pitch camp. 

Stanley was moved with compassion as he looked 
upon his naked followers. Their usual ebony colored 
skin had changed to an ashen gray and their bones 
protruded so that it was a wonder how such skele- 
tons had strength enough to go any farther. And 
yet he had no mercy. He forced them to go on by 
harsh measures, lest the expedition should prove a 
failure. And besides, he who remained behind was 
inevitably a dead man. The soil was full of decaying 

[66] 



STANLEY COMES TO RELIEF 

vegetation, the atmosphere was hot and close and 
filled with exhalations from myriads of decaying 
insects, leaves, plants, twigs, and stalks. At every 
step the head or neck, arms or legs were held fast by 
tough vines, thorns of bushes, poisonous ivies or 
monstrous thistles, which tore them as they sought 
to extricate themselves. Countless kinds of insects 
increased their troubles, particularly the black ants, 
which dropped upon them from the trees as they 
were passing under them. Their sting is more 
painful than that of the wasp or the red ant. They 
traverse the roads in armies, and plants and trees 
swarm with them. When November came, the 
expedition had been reduced one half in number and 
only two hundred men emerged from the darkness 
of the woods into clear daylight. 

In Stanley's account of this journey he only 
speaks of these small pests and is thankful that 
the larger animals of the African plains avoided the 
forests. But this is not always the case, for the 
wilderness abounds with elephants, buffaloes, 
panthers, leopards, jackals, antelopes, and gazelles. 
There are hippopotami and snakes in the rivers, 
innumerable birds in the trees, and the woods are 
full of monkeys of various kinds, and yet none of 
them came in sight of the expedition. The same was 
true of the natives. They often found clearings in 
which bananas and pisangs were planted and near 
by the forsaken cabins of the savages who fled from 
the approach of strangers. And yet it is not cor- 

[67] 



EMIN PASHA 



rect to say that there were no human beings in the 
forests. Behind every tree an enemy was lurking 
and their poisoned arrows often found victims. 
Stanley maintains that these savages of the forest are 
much more dangerous than the negroes of the open 
country. It is only remarkable that amidst the 
manifold dangers to which they were exposed, they 
escaped a conflict which might have been fatal to 
them. 

The terrors of the forest at last disappeared. On 
the thirtieth of November the expedition reached 
a broad, well-kept road which led to the summit of 
a sightly hill. Lights could be seen. The people 
crowded about the slope and their questioning glances 
seemed to say before they could express their grati- 
tude in words: ''Is it true.^ Are we not deceived.^ 
Is it possible that we are at the end of those forest 
horrors?" They at last were convinced and a few 
minutes later gazed with admiration and astonish- 
ment at the picture before them. 

Longingly they stretched out their arms to the 
beautiful country. All looked up with grateful 
hearts to the clear, blue sky and watched the setting 
of the sun as if enchanted. Then they turned and 
gazed at the dark forest they had just left, stretch- 
ing away limitlessly to the west, and shook their 
fists at it. They were overcome by their sudden 
joy. They denounced It for its cruelty to them and 
their friends and compared it to hell. They mourned 
the death of hundreds of their companions and 

[68] 



STANLEY 


COMES 


TO RELIEF 


cursed 


it for 


its 


cruelty. 


Bi 


ut the great 


forest, 



stretching out like a continent, lying silently like 
some great animal, veiled in a blue mist, made no 
reply, but remained in its everlasting solitude, as 
unmerciful and cruel as ever. 



[69] 



Chapter IX 
The Meeting at the Lake 



lis we already know, Emin was aware of 
/\ Stanley's approach from the south of the 
X JL lake and sailed in that direction. But as 
he found no trace of the expedition there, he sent 
a messenger to the locality where he must come, 
requesting Stanley to remain where the messenger 
found him and he would meet him there. Stanley 
had still many dangers to meet after he and his 
people left the forest, and had several encounters 
with the hostile dwellers near the lake, besides 
being short of supplies and food. But the day 
came at last when the Albert Lake was at their 
feet, far stretching as a world sea. 

On the twenty-ninth of April, 1888, Stanley ob- 
served a dark object upon the lake too large to be 
the canoe of a native and soon a cloud of smoke was 
visible. It must be Emin Pasha's steamer! Mes- 
sengers were sent to the shore and about eight in 
the evening Emin, accompanied by enthusiastic 
demonstrations and firing, advanced to the camp, 
in company with Captain Casati. At last the great 

[70] 



MEETING AT THE LAKE 

event, looked foward to with such anticipation and 
for which so many sacrifices had been made, was 
reaUzed. Emin and Stanley were together. Both 
had accomplished an unusual thing, the one by 
patient labor, and brave endurance, in an almost 
untenable position; the other by his energy and 
invincible determination to bring help where help 
was so urgently needed. 

Emin in his usual quiet manner said in excellent 
English: "I owe you a thousand thanks, Mr. 
Stanley, and I really do not know how to express 
them." 

"Ah! you are Emin Pasha! Don't mention 
thanks, but come in and sit down. It is so dark out 
here that we cannot see one another." 

They entered the tent, which was illuminated by 
a wax light. Stanley beheld with astonishment (as 
he said afterwards) a man whom he might have 
taken for a professor of law as he sat there in his 
clean, nicely fitting snow-white attire. His face 
showed no trace of illness or anxiety, but bespoke 
good physical condition and a peaceful mind. Cap- 
tain Casati, on the other hand, looked old, hag- 
gard, and worn with care. The two men occupied 
the greater part of the hours in conversation about 
the events of Stanley's journey, European affairs, 
occurrences in the Equatorial Provinces, as well as 
personal matters. Stanley was surprised at Emin's 
intimate knowledge of European events, which he 
had gathered from a few old newspapers that had 

[71] 



EMIN PASHA 



found their way to him. The close of the joyous 
meeting was celebrated with a bottle of champagne 
Stanley had brought with him through the wilder- 
ness. 

On the next morning Stanley went with his Zan- 
zibarites to the steamer where they were welcomed 
with music by the Pasha's Soudanese, who stood in 
parade order on the shore. By the side of these 
stalwart figures Stanley's lean and exhausted people 
seemed pitiful. Emin supplied the expedition as 
well a3 he could with shoes, garments, tobacco, salt, 
honey, corn and grain, which had been sent to him 
from Europe. They were exchanging roles. A dis- 
agreeable dark shadow obscured the joy which 
should have been complete. 

With absolute confidence in his lucky star, Stanley 
started the question about the return home in ac- 
cordance with the request of the Khedive of Egypt. 
Emin stated his position as well as that of the 
majority of his officials. But the Soudanese already 
regarded with mistrusting hearts this expedition 
which had been so loudly praised by the governor 
and which they had looked upon as the source of 
their safety. Of what value were thirty chests of 
Remington cartridges? That was all that had been 
brought for Emin. They cared nothing for the 
situation in the Equatorial Provinces. Emin deeply 
felt the painful impression which the description of 
the wretchedness sufi'ered and the difficulties in the 
way must make upon his people. He repeatedly 

[72] 



MEETING AT THE LAKE 

urged Stanley to show himself to his people and to 
visit the adjacent provinces that could be reached by 
steamer. Stanley, however, declined, for he must 
depart at once to look after Major Bartelot and the 
reserve. An agreement was made that all those 
Soudanese and Egyptians who wished to return to 
Egypt should come together at Nssabe on the 
Albert Nyanza to await Stanley's return with the 
rest of his people and the supplies left in Jambuja. 
Knowing the sure and unavoidable danger accom- 
panying Stanley's journey through the forest, they 
would take their way eastward to Zanzibar via 
Karagwe and Usukuma. 

To lighten the work of preparation for departure 
and to compensate for his refusal to show himself in 
the provinces, Stanley granted Emin's request that 
an officer of the expedition might go back with 
him. Jephson was selected for this by no means 
easy position, and a letter was given him to the 
Khedive and his minister which read: "I am sending 
you one of my officers with instructions to read this 
to you. I am going back to bring my people and 
goods and settle upon the Nyanza. In a few months 
I shall be here again to listen to what you may pur- 
pose. If you say 'We go to Egypt' I will take 
them by a safe route. If you say 'We will not leave 
the country, ' then I shall say farewell to you and go 
back with my own to Egypt." 

Stanley made two other propositions. In case he 
and his people decided not to go back to Egypt he 

[73] 



EMIN PASHA 



(Stanley) would go with him and his people to the 
northeastern corner of Victoria Lake, establish a 
residence there and a chain of stations to Mombasa 
— a plan which would certainly be frustrated by the 
hostility of the natives. At last Stanley offered to 
incorporate the Equatorial Provinces with the Congo 
Free State, provided an unbroken union could be 
secured to the west coast. The fate which at- 
tended the rescue expedition was sufficiently elo- 
quent to spare a reply to either proposition. So 
Stanley took his way back through the gloomy 
forest and left Emin making preparations for his 
departure. 



[74I 



Chapter X 
The Mutiny 



HARDLY had Emin departed for Lado, to 
take the troops there to the lake, when a 
certain Soliman Aga, a Nubian and former 
slave and a man of low condition, openly threw off 
the mask and summoned soldiers and officials to 
meet him. At this meeting he urged resistance, at 
the same time making the meanest accusations 
against the Christians. He sent messengers to 
Faliko, Msua, Wadelai, and urged them to unite in 
order to avert the calamity which the Pasha was 
about to visit upon the province. All were certain 
that they were to be taken to the south to be sold 
into slavery. The discontented natives replied 
secretly and quickly to the insurrectionary call and 
from the frequent comings and goings of messengers 
and their unusual intercourse with clerks and officials, 
Casati, who remained in the south, quickly came 
to a conclusion. Aga issued his commands abso- 
lutely and despotically. Woe to him who ventured 
to question them! Reason and justice, reflection 
and freedom had no influence. The soldiers shud- 

[75] 



EMIN PASHA 



dered at his unjust and cruel treatment. The 
Danagia trembled for their very existence. The 
stations were silent and abandoned. The powerful 
figure of the despot confronted them at the gates, 
often in furious anger and sometimes in a condition 
of excessive drunkenness, which made him still more 
terrible. In the nighttime furious beating of the 
great drums, shrill tones of fifes and discharges of 
musketry explained the business upon which the 
leader and his friends were engaged. 

When Emin issued his order to move the war 
material in the magazine at Dufile, southward, the 
soldiers unanimously resisted. Mistrust seized them. 
They saw they were no longer free of will, but would 
be driven by force and that they and their families 
would be exposed to the mercy of the natives and 
outside enemies. On the thirteenth of August 
(1888) the troops at Lahore were mustered upon the 
plaza of the village. Jephson, accompanied by Emin 
and various officers, read the letter of Stanley which 
the governor himself had translated into Arabic and 
invited the soldiers to express their intentions. An 
unusual murmur and a scarcely repressed disquiet 
were manifest, but no one among them ventured to 
say a word. Then suddenly a soldier stepped out 
from the ranks with his gun upon his arm. He ad- 
vanced and, turning to the governor, said they were 
ready to withdraw and had fixed the corn harvest 
for the time. Jephson asked for a written promise 
which he could send to Stanley. Then the soldier 

[76] 



THE MUTINY 



became presumptuous and replied that this was not 
the way for the government's soldiers to be treated. 
This order was deceitful, for the Khedive had com- 
manded, not expressed, his wish. He had ordered 
the rescue of all, not their submission to autocratic 
power. 

Indignant at the soldier's audacity, Emin stepped 
up to him, seized him by the neck, and ordered 
him to be disarmed and imprisoned. The soldiers 
to a man broke ranks and gathered together in 
threatening groups, pointing their guns at the gover- 
nor, who had drawn his sabre to compel obedience. 
Quick action by the officers alone prevented an out- 
break. The troops withdrew to keep guard at the 
arsenal, but refused their regular night service at 
the governor's residence. On the nineteenth of 
August, Emin and Jephson entered the station at 
Dufile by the northern gate. The way into the 
village was forsaken. Not a single person met them 
and it was as silent everywhere as the grave. As 
they reached their house their entrance was pre- 
vented by a picket of soldiers on guard. The 
governor was taken prisoner, but Jephson in his 
capacity of guest was not included in their hostile 
designs. A new government was set up in Wadelai 
which was to secure justice for all! 

Dreadful news followed. In October, three 
steamers for Khartoum appeared before Redjaf. 
The armed Mahdists, who came in then, attacked 
and captured the station after a brief resistance. 

[77] 



EMIN PASHA 



Three clerks and three officers, who heroically de- 
fended the entrance to the fort, were slain. A 
horrible massacre of men, women, and children 
ensued. No one was spared. Other assaults by the 
Mahdists followed and all were successful. The 
mutineers were panic-stricken, for they knew not 
how to withstand the advancing enemy. Casati 
availed himself of the situation by persuading the 
men who had usurped the government that it was 
necessary to remove the governor from the vicinity 
of the enemy's operations. 

On the morning of the seventeenth of November 
Emin was sent under military escort and with the 
salute of cannon to the steamer which was to take 
him to Wadelai. There was a little creature on 
board who had suffered terrible anxiety for many 
long weeks. It was Ferida, Emin's poor little child. 
She was so young that she could hardly comprehend 
her father's situation. She only knew that some- 
thing dreadful might happen. Captain Casati had 
so successfully used his influence that she was kept 
at his house during Emin's imprisonment. Her 
father had often been away on journeys, but here it 
was very different. There was something terrible in 
the air. Almost every day she besought Casati to 
take her to her father and when her wish was not 
granted, she would ask a hundred times if any harm 
had happened to him. Now the terrible time seemed 
to her like a long, wretched dream. With sparkling 
eyes she clung to her "good little father" and was 

[78] 



THE MUTINY 



so delighted that she sang and danced about the 
deck. 

When the steamer arrived at Wadelai, the people 
crowded to the shore and expressed their joy in loud 
and enthusiastic shouts. It was like the triumph 
of a conqueror. The magistrates in white clothes 
overwhelmed him with expressions of devotion and 
hand kissing. Honored by the troops, greeted with 
the thunder of artillery, and overcome with surprise 
at the cordiality of his welcome, Emin made his way 
to his residence where he received the congratula- 
tions of the officers. They were a faint-hearted, 
fickle people, however, and if the rebel government 
had been introduced in the morning, they would 
have welcomed it with the same enthusiasm. 



[79] 



Chapter XI 
The Tragedy at Jambuja 



WHILE Emin was thus daily exposed to the 
danger of death, either at the hands of 
the Mahdists or his own people, the 
relief expedition was also near destruction more 
than once. It seems almost incredible that Stanley 
should have taken the same route through the dread- 
ful forest in which he had wandered for six months, 
at the cost of losing half his people. When he left 
half of his force with six hundred carriers in Jambuja, 
on the banks of the Aruwimi, under command of 
Major Bartelot, it was with the expectation that 
Tippoo Tib, the famous Arab merchant, would 
speedily furnish transportation and enable them to 
reach the Albert Nyanza. But Stanley had been 
out of the forest for months and not one of Major 
Bartelot's men had appeared. A year had passed 
since he left them and now he asked himself the 
question, ^'Why do they not come.^ Have they 
suffered some calamity, perhaps sickness, revolt of 
the people, or destruction by the natives? Perhaps 
they have all perished, and these two hundred and 

[80] 



i 



THE TRAGEDY AT JAMBUJA 

seventy-nine men and the supplies of every kind 
promised to Emin are all gone." These questions 
tormented the leader and no satisfactory answer 
came to quiet him. After leaving the sick and 
incapacitated in Fort Bado, under the care of Dr. 
Parke, he plunged again into that dark, gloomy 
forest, that cruel wilderness, from which his people 
had but just escaped. 

At last, on the seventeenth of August (1888) the 
expedition, after finding several canoes on the river, 
came to a great bend of the Aruwimi at Benalja and 
observed upon the opposite bank a village with a 
strong enclosure. White costumes were visible, and 
looking through the field glass Stanley saw a red 
flag, upon which was a white crescent and star, the 
Egyptian symbols. Stanley sprang to his feet shout- 
ing, ''The major, boys! Row faster!" Loud cries 
and hurrahs followed and the canoes shot swiftly 
ahead. When within hearing distance he called to 
some men upon the shore: "What people are you?" 

"We are Stanley's people." 

They rowed ashore and Stanley sprang out and 
addressed a European officer: 

"Well, Bonney, how are you.'^ Where is the 
major?" 

"The major is dead, sir." 

"Dead! Good God! How did he die? Of 
fever?" 

"No, sir, he was shot." 

"By whom?" 

[81] 



EMIN PASHA 



''By the Manjema, the bearers whom Tippoo 
Tib sent us." 

''How are our people?" 

"More than half of them are dead." 

Stanley was speechless. He mechanically gave 
orders for the landing of his men and then followed 
Bonney to the camp in order to learn the complete 
details of the tragedy. Human beings worn with 
sickness, mere skeletons, crawled past and gave him 
welcome with their hollow voices — welcome to a 
churchyard ! 

One hundred graves in Jambuja, thirty- three men 
left in camp to perish, ten bodies on the way, 
forty persons in Banalja who had a feeble hold upon 
life, twenty deserters and sixty left in a moderate 
condition. How did such a loss happen? Bonney 
explained. Stanley had left the major in Jambuja 
fourteen months ago with instructions to await the 
arrival of those six hundred carriers which Tippoo 
Tib had promised should accompany them to the 
Albert Nyanza. Eight times the major made the 
journey to Stanley Falls to remind Tippoo Tib of his 
promise. The greedy Arab took advantage of the 
necessities of the expedition to raise the price of his 
service and a year elapsed — a year of frightful, 
murderous desolation in that unhealthy camp at 
Jambuja. At last some of the bearers came, but 
they were of the Manjema tribe, a savage cannibal 
people, not inclined to obey the orders of whites. 
They finally left Jambuja, that yawning grave, and 

[82] 



THE TRAGEDY AT JAMBUJA 

reached Banalja, where Bartelot was killed. 
Bonney's diary describes the event. 

^'On the nineteenth of July (1888) a Manjema 
woman began beating the drum and singing. That 
is their daily practice. The major sent a boy to 
her and ordered her to stop, whereupon loud, angry 
voices were heard as well as two shots which were 
fired in defiance. The major sprang from his bed 
and taking his revolver said, ' I will kill the first one 
I find shooting.' I implored him not to mind their 
daily practice, but to stay where he was, as it would 
soon be over. He went, revolver in hand, where the 
Soudanese were. They told him they could not find 
the men who fired the shots. The major then went 
to the woman who was drumming and singing and 
ordered her to stop. At that instant Sanga, hus- 
band of the woman, fired a shot through an aperture 
in an adjoining hut, the ball piercing him directly 
below the region of the heart, coming out through 
his back and penetrating a part of the veranda 
below, while he fell to the earth dead." 

The camp was at once in the greatest excitement. 
It looked as if all, soldiers and carriers, Zanzibarites, 
Soudanese, and Manjema might start at once in 
every direction taking with them the luggage and 
arms. It required all Lieutenant Bonney's energy to 
stop the plundering and force them back to duty, 
and it was only accomplished by the adoption of 
harsh measures. The major's body was buried and 
his murderer was sentenced to be shot. Then came 

[83] 



EMIN PASHA 



Stanley and now it was hoped everything would go 
well. 

Stanley was a man of extraordinary energy, who 
never indulged in outbursts of emotions, but he was 
wellnigh discouraged when he heard this mournful 
story and realized the troubles of the expedition 
which he had hoped to find in excellent condition. 
But he looked forward with confidence and for- 
tunately his own strong men were loud in praise of 
the beautiful region on the Nyanza, where there was 
plenty of meat and bread and beer and where the 
poor starved people at Banalja would soon recover 
their strength. 



[841 



Chapter XII 
Again in the Dark Forest 



ll FTER a short rest, the third march through 
/\ the gloomy forest began. There were 
X ^ dangers in plenty and the whole caravan 
came near starving. Notwithstanding all Stanley's 
efforts, it was not possible to save his men from their 
folly. Everyone was instructed, as soon as a banana 
grove was reached, to provide himself with food 
enough for several days, but these great thoughtless 
boys would throw away their food when it became 
burdensome, and thus many began to suffer for 
lack of sustenance, which might have been avoided 
by a little care. 

On the eighth of December, while pitching camp, 
Stanley noticed a boy staggering with weakness. 
When asked what was the trouble he said that he 
was hungry. He had thrown away five days' 
rations hoping to find more food that day. Upon 
further inquiry he found that at least one hundred 
and fifty had followed his example and had had 
nothing to eat that day. The next morning Stanley 
sent all his effective men, two hundred in number, 

[85] 



EMIN PASHA 



back to the last banana grove, expecting that they 
would return in two days loaded with supplies of 
the fruit. The small supply of meal was soon con- 
sumed and Stanley opened his European provision 
chest. Each one of the one hundred and thirty 
men was given a morsel of butter and condensed 
milk which was mixed with water in a kind of thin 
soup. At last they searched in the forest for berries 
and mushrooms. 

From day to day their anxiety increased and they 
moved about more slowly and feebly. Nothing was 
heard or seen of the expedition which had been sent 
out. Five days had passed already. Perhaps they 
were lost in the forest or had succumbed to hunger 
before they reached the banana trees. If so, all in 
the camp were doomed. In this unknown corner 
of the forest every trace of them would disappear. 
The graves would remain hidden forever, while the 
Pasha himself would spend month after month 
wondering what had become of the relief expedition. 

At last, on the sixth day, Stanley decided to set out 
with a small number of his people in search of food, 
leaving Bonney to care for the sick and exhausted. 
He left a scant stock of provisions for them, but 
there was no other way to save them. Sixty-five 
men and women and twelve boys went with him. 
They marched until evening and then threw them- 
selves upon the ground to rest. No fire was kindled 
as they had nothing to cook. Few of them slept. 
Frau Sorge ("mistress anxiety") occupied the camp 

[86] 



AGAIN IN DARK FOREST 

and filled their minds with visions of suffering, despair, 
and death. 

When the darkness began to disappear and light 
fell upon the outstretched groups, Stanley, muster- 
ing up courage, shouted: "Up, lads, up! To the 
bananas! Up! If God so wills, we will have 
bananas to-day." 

In a few minutes the camping place was deserted 
and the weary ones were once more on their way, 
some limping because of their hurts, some hobbling 
because of sores, and others stumbling because of 
weakness. At last Stanley heard a murmuring 
sound and suddenly saw a great abundance of green 
fruit. In a trice all weakness and every trace of 
despair disappeared. English and Africans, Chris- 
tians and heathen, each in his own language, shouted 
"God be praised." Fire was quickly kindled, the 
green fruit was cooked, and an enjoyable meal gave 
them strength for their return. In an hour they 
were on their way back to the camp of hunger, 
which they reached at half past two in the after- 
noon. They were given a welcome such as only the 
dying can give when their rescue is sure. Then all, 
young and old, forgot the troubles of the past in the 
joy of the present and agreed to be more careful in 
future — until the next time. 



[87] 



Chapter XIII 
Fresh "Troubles 



AT last Fort Bodo was reached and there for- 
tunately Stanley found all well and hoped 
that troubles were at an end. In the eight 
months of his absence he expected that Emin Pasha 
would certainly be ready to take his departure, and 
that the united company could enter upon its 
journey to the coast without delay. He impatiently 
waited daily news from the Pasha, for he must 
certainly be in camp by the lake with his people in 
the neighborhood of the storehouse which he had 
engaged to erect. At last a messenger came from 
Kavalli and Stanley learned what we have already 
learned. The news occasioned him bitter disap- 
pointment and a feeUng of dread. The letter read: 

DuFiLE, 6. II. 88 

Dear Sir, — I have been held a prisoner here since 
August. We knew as soon as the Mahdists arrived and 
captured the station of Redjaf that we should be attacked 
one day or another, and there seemed to be little hope 
that we should escape. Jephson, who has been of great 

[88] 



FRESH TROUBLES 



assistance to me in all my difficulties, will inform you 
what has been done here and will also give you valuable 
advice in case you decide to come here as the people wish. 
Should you come, you will greatly oblige me if you will 
take measures for the safety of my little girl, for I am 
very anxious about her. Should you, on the other hand, 
decide not to come, then I can only wish you a safe and 
happy return home. I beg you to convey to your officers 
and men my hearty thanks and my most cordial gratitude 
to all those in England by whose generosity the expedition 
was sent out. 

Believe me, dear sir, 

Your most devoted, 

Dr. Emin 

Thus Emin was in the power of his barbarous in- 
feriors, who, if they felt so disposed, could end his 
life any moment. But the province was in danger 
of being overrun by the swarms of Mahdists, and in 
that case there would be no alternative for man, 
woman, or child, but death or slavery. The efforts 
of the relief expedition had been wasted for a year, 
a very hell of torment had been endured, and hun- 
dreds of lives had been sacrificed, only at last to 
hasten the doom of Emin, for there is no doubt that 
the arrival of Stanley with his tattered, hungry 
people kindled the torch of revolt. The people of 
the Equatorial Provinces would not leave their 
country and exchange its comfort for poverty and 
wretchedness, and deaf to every protest of reason 
imprisoned their governor, who they believed would 

[89] 



EMIN PASHA 



take them to strange countries, sell them as slaves, 
and forsake them. Fortunately Jephson reached the 
camp and Stanley learned from his own mouth what 
had transpired. He described the dissensions and 
insubordination of the Soudanese officers which 
made it impossible to organize any defence against 
the enemy approaching from the north. 

Stanley was indignant at the condition of affairs. 
'*As they will not go they can stay and perish. But 
how can we save the Pasha .^" 

"The Pasha would come to us if there were nothing 
to hinder," said Jephson, "but he will not be rescued 
alone. These people have deceived him, imprisoned 
him, and treated him shamefully, and yet he will 
not be induced to forsake them when it means their 
certain destruction." 

"That is bad," said Stanley. "We shall have to 
carry him off by force." 

The situation was a doubtful one. Stanley could 
not wait any longer at his camp on the shore of 
the lake, for he was in a country destitute of sup- 
plies and he was constantly exposed to danger from 
the hostile people in his vicinity. At last he suc- 
ceeded in getting Emin with some of his most faith- 
ful officers to come to the camp and after endless 
discussions, deliberations, and protests, the tenth of 
April, 1889, was fixed upon for the march to the 
coast. Those of the Soudanese who would not join 
them within two months must take the consequences. 
Emin gave up with a sad heart. Over and over he 

[90] 



FRESH TROUBLES 



declared he could not leave his people. The indiffer- 
ent manner with which Stanley imposed his will 
grieved the man whom the negroes rightly designated 
as '^father and mother of their country.'' At last he 
had to yield. Of all his people only six hundred 
were in camp at the right time and saved from the 
dreadful cruelty of the Mahdi, 



[91] 



Chapter XIV 

The March to Zanzibar 



ON the tenth of April, 1889, the horn gave the 
signal to prepare for departure. Stanley 
kept his word. The caravan was arranged 
in marching order and at seven o'clock moved away, 
while behind them a dense black cloud of smoke 
and crackling flames from the burning camp said 
farewell to them. 

Their course took them over a range of grassy, 
treeless hills, whose monotony was dispelled by 
valleys with groups of palms. Farmers and shep- 
herds occupied the region and millet, sweet potatoes, 
and bananas were cultivated. The march was very 
regular when one considers that the most of the 
people were unaccustomed to efi'orts of this kind and 
that there was a considerable number of children and 
women and old broken-down men. Stanley rode at 
the head of the expedition followed by the Zanzi- 
barites and Manjema bearers. Emin led his own 
people and hardened veterans brought up the rear, 
who urged on the laggards and relentlessly drove 
them along. Ferida rode continually by the side of 

[92] 



THE MARCH TO ZANZIBAR 

her tender father. He now began to rejoice for her 
sake that they were going to a safe and peaceful 
country, where his Httle daughter could be educated 
and properly brought up. 

Emin thought with a sad heart of those left be- 
hind and there was much to trouble him on the 
journey, for his servants and soldiers were so thor- 
oughly convinced that they would be abandoned at 
Wadelai that when they pitched their camp that 
night at Niamgabe, sixty-nine of them eluded the 
vigilance of the sentinels and escaped. So sure were 
they that they would be attacked by the natives on 
the road that the most stringent measures were 
adopted to prevent further desertions. Unfortu- 
nately Stanley was taken seriously ill at this time, 
and they had to remain at Niamgabe nearly a month, 
until by the efforts of Emin and Dr. Parke, he re- 
covered. It became difficult, therefore, to procure 
provisions at that place and still more difficult to 
maintain order in the great expedition. 

Early on the eighth of May they moved forward 
again and Emin found much consolation in turning 
his attention to scientific matters. He discovered 
new and unknown species of plants and insects which 
he investigated and added to his collections and soon 
made the greatest discovery of all. For the first 
time he had an opportunity to make a close observa- 
tion of a great mountain phenomenon, which had 
been seen from a distance by Casati and by Stanley 
on the first expedition, but which was now thor- 

[93] 



EMIN PASHA 



oughly investigated for the first time. This was the 
snow mountain Ruwenzori (Cloud King), as the 
natives called it, according to Stanley, separating 
the Albert Nyanza from the Albert Edward Lake. 
Its mighty glaciers and copious rainstorms fed the 
Semliki, a great tributary of the Nile, thus solving 
the question of the sources of this tributary which 
had so long been obscure. The spectacle of this 
snow mountain below the equator in a world of heat 
and sunshine is a magnificent one. Deep, dark 
valleys lie along its base. Beautiful trees, shrubs, 
and ferns bedeck its slopes, with timber below and 
the flowers of the Alpine world, while its lofty sum- 
mit and glaciers belong to the region of eternal snow. 
In company with Lieutenant Stairs and forty men 
Emin undertook the ascent of the mountain, but did 
not get far because of deep intersecting valleys and 
the lack of food and proper clothing for the higher 
region. 

At the south end of Victoria Lake they turned 
southward and there took an easterly direction. On 
the seventeenth of October the French missionaries, 
Fathers Girault and Schynse, joined them. On the 
tenth of November the bearers shouted: "To-day 
we shall come to Mpapua,'' and about noon from 
an eminence they beheld a station with a German 
flag waving. Lieutenant Rochus Schmidt welcomed 
them to German territory and accompanied them 
with his soldiers to the coast. They soon exchanged 
the sight of the parched and thorny wilderness 

l94] 



Co 




THE MARCH TO ZANZIBAR 

for a land fragrant with lilies and clad in spring 
greenery. The Makata plain, with its green grass 
and its numerous groups of villages, was ample com- 
pensation for the four months of wretchedness and 
hardship they had endured. 

Shortly after this messengers from Major Wiss- 
mann, governor of German East Africa at Baga- 
mojo, met them with ample supplies. As the 
travellers were pursuing their way by moonlight on 
the third of December they heard the report of a 
cannon. It was the evening gun at Zanzibar. The 
Zanzibarites gave a joyous shout, for it told them 
that their long journey across the continent was at 
an end. The Egyptians and their attendants also 
joined in the shout, for they now knew that in the 
next twenty-four hours they would see the ocean 
over which they would go safely and comfortably to 
Egypt, their future home. 



[95] 



Chapter XV 

Eitniris Misfortune 



MAJOR WISSMANN went to the river 
Kingani to welcome the travellers, taking 
saddled horses with him which Emin and 
Stanley mounted. Accompanied by the major and 
Lieutenant Schmidt, they entered Bagamojo. The 
streets were decorated with palm branches and 
crowded with the dusky population extending good 
wishes to the approaching travellers. As they came 
near the major's headquarters at their left they 
beheld the expanse of the Indian Ocean, a great, 
clear, blue, watery plain. 

"Look, Pasha," said Stanley, "we are at home." 
"Yes, thank God!" he replied. At the same 
instant the batteries fired a salute, announcing to 
the war vessels lying at anchor that the governor of 
the Equatorial Provinces had arrived in Bagamojo. 
They dismounted at the door of the German 
officers' mess and were escorted to a veranda, 
decorated with palm branches and flags. Several 
round tables stood there and an elegant breakfast 
was served to which they did ample justice. The 

[96] 



EMIN'S MISFORTUNE 

Pasha had never been In a happier mood than he 
was that afternoon when, surrounded by his friends 
and countrymen, he answered a thousand questions 
about the life he had led during his long seclusion In 
the Interior of Africa. About four o'clock the rest 
of the expedition entered the city. The people were 
conducted to cabins near the shore, and when the 
bearers threw down their burdens and the sick men 
and women and tired children were provided for, all 
felt the greatest relief and understood the significance 
of this arrival at the seacoast. In the afternoon a 
banquet was given at which thirty-four persons were 
present, Including the German officers and physi- 
cians, the commanders of the war vessels, various 
missionary fathers and Emin and Stanley as the 
guests of honor. 

Major WIssmann conducted his guests to a long 
dinlng-hall, below the windows of which the Zanzl- 
barltes were celebrating the end of their troubles by 
dancing and singing. The feast was an excellent one 
and was seasoned with universal joyousness. Major 
WIssmann made a speech of welcome to his country- 
man, "the meritorious and famous governor of the 
Equatorial Provinces." The Pasha replied in a 
manner that delighted the whole company. He was 
particularly happy and genial and went from one 
end of the table to the other greeting his friends, 
and then stepped out upon the veranda. Suddenly 
Stanley's valet whispered to him that the Pasha had 
fallen from the veranda wall and was dangerously 

[97] 



EMIN PASHA 



hurt. Owing to his short-sightedness he had mis- 
taken a window for a door, and stepping out had 
plunged to the ground. All rushed out and found 
him lying unconscious and near him a little pool of 
blood. Emin was taken to the hospital and at first 
suffered great pain. As his recovery from the fall 
would inevitably be slow, Stanley left on the sixth of 
December on the Somali^ escorted to Zanzibar by 
the whole flotilla — the English war vessel Tortoise^ 
the German vessels Schwalhe and Sperber^ and 
Wissmann's three steamers. He was received with 
great enthusiasm at Zanzibar and was overwhelmed 
with honor later in England, while Emin lay upon 
his sick bed in Bagamojo. 



[98] 



Chapter XVI 

New Plans 



O 



WING to the strenuous labors of the suffer- 
ing victim for a year past and the shock to 
_ his nerves, Emin's recovery was slow. It 
was only due to the watchful care of the German 
physicians, who firmly opposed his removal, that 
the accident did not have worse consequences. 
Major Wissmann, Lieutenant Schmidt, and all the 
German officers rendered most valuable assistance, 
and when Emin had recovered sufficient strength to 
get about again he felt as if he had returned home 
after a long journey. This feeling first came to him 
when he saw the German flag waving from the 
bastion of Mpapua, for the fatherland, as it were, 
had come to meet him. Emin had not gone to 
Germany, but Germany had come to Africa. There 
arose in his soul a longing to serve the fatherland in 
the foreign world. He gave the matter serious 
thought, however, before coming to any conclusion. 
First of all, he was an Egyptian subject, but the 
Khedive, as he was aware, had little for him to do. 
He was a governor without a province and in Alex- 

[99] 



EMIN PASHA 



andria or Cairo he would only spend a scanty pension 
in idleness while still feeling young and active. 

During the return march Stanley had repeatedly 
proposed to Emin that he should enter the service 
of British East Africa. That company would cer- 
tainly have appreciated the service of such an ex- 
perienced man, but it did not altogether suit him. 
He would travel with Stanley to Egypt and back to 
England to raise the necessary funds and associates 
in the undertaking, but he was not altogether pleased 
with Stanley's company. He had been hurt several 
times by the stern and regardless action of the 
American. Perhaps Emin was not entirely free 
from blame. His own irresoluteness had often in- 
duced Stanley to adopt a very firm attitude, but 
whatever their relations were, their continuance was 
no longer desired by him. 

It was Emin's dearest wish to remain in German 
East Africa, where he had been so cordially treated, 
and devote his service to the fatherland. To one of 
his retiring nature the idea of exhibiting himself 
in Europe was not attractive. He certainly would 
have received ovations everywhere. He would have 
been wined and dined and honors would have been 
showered upon him. But what did he care for them.^ 
His nature revolted against making an exhibition of 
himself and of becoming a central figure in celebra- 
tions. He would rather remain in Africa with his 
savages and collect beetles and bird skins. His 
thirst for knowledge was not to be appeased. 
[loo] 



Chapter XVII 
Ferida's Departure 



THUS it happened that Emin, hardly arisen 
from his bed of suffering, was again con- 
templating a mission to the interior of 
that continent out of which Stanley had but just 
conducted him with so much effort. But one thing 
troubled him — his anxiety for his child. Ferida 
had been kept far away from him during his illness 
and when she was brought back to him her joy was 
unbounded. 

"Oh papa," she exclaimed, "now you are never 
going away from me again. We shall always be 
together." Such appeals were hard for the father 
to bear after he had come to the decision to send 
her back to Europe. But the thousand anxieties 
which he had felt for the little helpless being in the 
wilderness were a lesson he could not for an instant 
forget. Now that they were at the coast, there was 
an opportunity to send her to her relatives in Ger- 
many without fear of danger. It would be wicked 
to take her with him again into a strange land. 

[ lOI ] 



EMIN PASHA 



So there came a tearful leave-taking. How hard 
it was for the child to obey the will of her father, 
although her old and trusty Arab nurse was going 
with her. It seemed to the little one that her heart 
was breaking and that she was going alone into a 
far-distant strange country. It was a bitter task 
for Emin also to separate from his child. He stood 
upon the shore and watched the steamer until all 
that he could see was a little cloud of smoke on the 
horizon. Then he turned away and sighed heavily. 
He had a presentiment that he might never see her 
again. 

Poor little Ferida! What a sad journey for her. 
The Arab attendant, who had been in Emin's house 
so many long years and had been considered true 
and devoted to the child, followed her own selfish 
designs. She schemed to appropriate her money 
and for this purpose presented in Cairo the papers, 
which proved her to be Emin's daughter, for the 
purpose of securing the eight years' arrears of pay 
due Emin. Fortunately her trick was prevented by 
the German ambassador, but he could not prevent 
the vile woman from tattooing the helpless little 
creature's body, naturally a painful operation. 
These troubles passed, however. Ferida was placed 
in a railway carriage, this time under careful over- 
sight. She passed through countries which seemed 
strange to her, especially when she found that all 
the people were white. 

At last came a day when a gracious lady folded 

[ 102] 



FERIDA'S DEPARTURE 

the poor fatherless child in her arms, and, caressing 
her a thousand times, called her her dear little daugh- 
ter. It was Emin's sister, Fraulein Schnitzer, who 
took the little one to Neisse and cared for her as a 
mother. 



[103] 



Chapter XVIII 

Again in the heart of Africa 



ON the twenty-sixth of April, 1890, Emin 
left the coast in company with Lieutenant 
Langheld and Dr. Stuhlmann, a young 
Hamburg scholar, who assisted the Pasha in his 
scientific investigations. A hundred soldiers and 
four hundred armed bearers were with the expedi- 
tion, which was directing its course for the great 
Victoria Nyanza. The object of the expedition was 
kept absolutely secret and the preparations were 
made very quietly so that the English should not 
frustrate the German plans. 

The principal features of the plan for the journey 
were arranged by Major Wissmann. The line of 
the northern frontier was fixed as extending on the 
coast from Wanga to Kilima Ndschan, and across 
Victoria Nyanza through Buddu to the north to 
the Albert Lake. North of this line the English 
territory begins and an agreement bound the Ger- 
mans not to cross it. At the outset the march, so 
long as it led through the coast region, was every- 
where a difficult one, for the floods of the rainy 

[ 104 ] 




M 



AJOR WISSMANN 



THE HEART OF AFRICA 

season made the roads almost impassable and the 
fording of the swollen streams was dangerous to 
life. Shortly fever broke out, which is more danger- 
ous in the open country than in the woodier regions. 
On the nineteenth of June they met the expedition 
of Dr. Peters and Herr von Piedemann, who had 
started the year previously for Uganda, to supply 
Emin with munitions, but had been prevented from 
getting there by the prevailing disorders. Great 
was their surprise at finding Emin, whom they were 
seeking to rescue, leaving the coast fresh and active, 
with the intention of penetrating the interior as far 
at least as he had been before. Dr. Peters shared 
Emin's opinion that the Germans should occupy 
Tabora, but Major WIssmann had strictly forbidden 
this as he feared that the undertaking was too great 
for Emin's small force and a disaster would injure 
German prestige among the Arabs. It seemed, how- 
ever, as if Emin were in the hands of destiny. He 
had issued his orders to march directly to the Vic- 
toria Nyanza, but it was impossible for him to 
secure the necessary number of porters. At last, 
as he succeeded in getting eighty-six Waramboans 
who lived in the neighborhood of Tabora and were 
going in that direction, he determined to go there. 
Everything went as he wished. Arriving at Kigwa, 
he was met by a deputation of Arabs who invited 
him to Tabora. They came from the Waramboans, 
whose chief had been killed in a battle with the 
Wangomans, and who implored the help of the 

[105] 



EMIN PASHA 



Germans. They were on good terms with the 
colony. They had rendered good service to Wiss- 
mann in his encounters with Arab revolters and 
naturally believed they ought to have help in return. 

So by dealing with them in a peaceful way, as 
well as by his familiarity with their habits and his 
skill in handling them, he succeeded (August I, 
1890) in making an agreement with them, the prin- 
cipal points of which were as follows: "All Arabs 
must subject themselves to the German govern- 
ment, with all their relatives and possessions, and 
hoist the German flag as a sign of their loyalty. 
They will be allowed to select their own governor, 
who shall be approved by the German government 
and be paid by it. The property rights of the Arabs 
and the practice of their religion shall be recognized 
by it. The governor shall maintain order and 
furnish German expeditions with supplies. Slave 
trading is strictly forbidden." 

Thus Emin rendered great service to his govern- 
ment without loss of life and at a nominal cost. 
Then came a message from the French missionaries 
at the south end of Victoria Lake announcing threat- 
ening movements on the part of the natives which 
obliged him to go there with his entire forces. Ar- 
riving at Bussisi the danger seemed to be over, but 
the missionaries directed his attention to the strong 
Arab colony of Massansa, which was the head- 
quarters of the slave trade. Peaceful negotiations 
were useless. A battle was fought, the village was 

[106] 



THE HEART OF AFRICA 

stormed and rich spoils of ivory, arms, and slaves 
captured. Unfortunately four Arabs who were 
taken and sent by Emin to the coast for trial were 
murdered by the Wagandians as they were crossing 
the lake. That was a fatal event for Emin. The 
Arabs, with whom he had had such friendly rela- 
tions, blamed Emin for the murder, claiming that 
he must have known the Wagandians were the deadly 
enemies of the poor prisoners. They swore eternal 
hatred and revenge, and they kept their oath only 
too well. 

Emin finally decided to go to the west coast of 
the lake and establish a strong German station for 
trading purposes. After mature consideration he de- 
cided upon Bukoba, on the northern frontier, for the 
people there were friendly and supplies were abun- 
dant. On the sixteenth of November his force was 
at Bukoba, and aided by the natives Emin began the 
building of the station. The rainy season was a 
great hindrance. Emin not only succeeded, but 
was fortunate enough to earn the gratitude of the 
natives, for just at this time the Wagandians made 
one of their customary plundering raids and were 
punished by him. 

At this time reports came from various quarters 
that the Maturki had arrived north of the Albert 
Edward Lake. The thought immediately occurred 
to him: "These are my people from the Equatorial 
Provinces. I must see them." All other plans, all 
disobedience, all open hostility, all troubles were 

[107] 



EMIN PASHA 



forgotten, for the Maturki had always been the gov- 
ernor's truest friends. It seemed to him at that 
moment that they were dear children waiting for 
their father to take them home. All Dr. Stuhlmann's 
protests were useless. In addition to this Emin re- 
ceived a message of disapproval from the coast, blam- 
ing him for his arbitrary proceedings at Tabora, also 
stating that Wissmann was not pleased with his going 
to the west shore when the south shore had been 
settled upon as the field of operations. This mis- 
taken view of his purposes was unendurable to 
Emin, who for years had been guided entirely by 
his own judgment in all his operations. He did not 
wish to return to the coast until he had accomplished 
something important. As it was certain that the 
Soudanese would never appear on the Albert Lake 
he determined to carry out a scheme he had long 
planned in secret. He would go north, gather his 
people, and take them to German territory, or, still 
better, go west and crossing the continent make a 
union with Cameron.^ A noble plan indeed! 

1 Verney L. Cameron was a distinguished Anglo-African explorer and 
the first to cross Africa from east to west. 



[io8] 



Chapter XIX 

Again with the Soudanese 



ON the twelfth of May, 1891, Emin asked 
Dr. Stuhlmann whether he would accom- 
pany him to unknown regions or return to 
the coast. The scheme seemed so attractive that he 
declared he would not leave him and was all the 
more easily persuaded as the Pasha could only 
spare him a few men and Stuhlmann would have to 
traverse a highly insecure region almost destitute of 
subsistence. So they went northwards. The jour- 
ney was slow and toilsome, for the packs were too 
heavy for the bearers and most of the people had to 
do double duty all day. 

Even yet Emin did not realize the difficulties. 
He was only occupied with the thought that he 
would see his former subjects again, whom he was 
forced by Stanley to leave. All this time the 
thought was uppermost in his heart what would 
become of these poor badly managed people, threat- 
ened north and south by fierce enemies and not 
united among themselves.'^ Surely some dreadful 
fate would overtake them. At last came the day 

[109] 



EMIN PASHA 



when the expedition actually entered the Soudan. 
It was hard for Emin to hide his excitement behind 
that demeanor of dignity and composure which he 
always maintained so as to keep the respect of his 
people. We cannot but think how eagerly their 
former governor listened to the story of matters in 
his province. It was sad enough! 

A part of the Soudanese under the leadership of 
Selim Bey had followed Stanley's expedition, but as 
they did not overtake it they came back full of 
resentment against those who had left them to their 
fate. But their effort was not entirely unrewarded. 
One day a cow stumbled into a gully and in getting 
her out they found a number of chests which Stanley 
had deposited there, as he had not men enough to 
carry them, filled with powder and cartridges. That 
was really a Godsend in time of need. It was only 
the lack of munitions that made the situation of 
these poor people so doubtful, for they daily feared 
attacks from the Mahdists, in which case they would 
have been slaughtered like a defenceless herd. Now 
they could maintain themselves in the five southern 
stations of the Equatorial Provinces. The discord 
among themselves was so great that it sometimes 
led to bloodshed. Several officers had usurped 
authority and fought on opposite sides and some 
traitors had even gone over to the Mahdists to 
induce them to enter the country. Want prevailed 
everywhere. The herds of cattle had perished from 
a disease which at certain times in Africa attacks 

[no] 



WITH THE SOUDANESE 

these animals as well as giraffes and gazelles. Pro- 
visions were dear and the people wore skins. There 
was no recognized general authority. Officers as 
well as soldiers promoted themselves, and some- 
times so rapidly that, as at Kavalli, there were more 
officers than soldiers. 

Emin called his people together to make an agree- 
ment with them and the same discouraging result 
was repeated which had so sorely tried Stanley's 
patience. One party was willing to go with the 
Pasha, conditional, however, upon taking the nearest 
route to the coast. But, as we know, Emin had pro- 
jected bolder plans, in the development of which he 
counted upon the help of the Soudanese. The 
usual delays occurred and the evil-disposed circu- 
lated all kinds of senseless stories. They said that 
the Khedive, enraged because Emin had left his 
soldiers in the interior and set out for the coast 
alone, had driven him off and that he was wandering 
about trying to find a habitation. Notwithstanding 
these reports, he could not find it in his heart to 
leave the malicious inventors of them in the lurch. 
He writes to his sister: "I am foolish enough, in 
spite of everything, to keep my interest in these 
people." There were a few faithful souls whom he 
would save even as Abraham appealed to his God: 
^'Peradventure there shall lack five of the fifty 
righteous, wilt thou destroy all the city [Sodom] for 
lack of five.?" 

After long delay twenty-nine men, one hundred 

[III] 



EMIN PASHA 



and one women, and eighty-one children decided to 
go with their former governor, though the little 
band promised to be much more troublesome than 
useful to him. But Emin was not discouraged at 
this turn of events. He made no complaints and was 
only concerned that the people who had been assured 
of help should not suffer. 



[112] 



Chapter XX 

To the West 



ON the tenth of August, 1891, Emin went 
farther west, and considerably farther 
north than Stanley had gone, in hopes of 
making a union with Cameron. All were of good 
courage except Dr. Stuhlmann, who had grave 
doubts, for Emin's health was broken. The saddest 
feature was his failing eyesight and the certainty 
that the day was not far distant when he would be 
blind. The Pasha himself realized it and therefore 
kept steadily forwards with the energy of desperation 
instead of going back by a safer way. 

"What is there behind me.^*" he would reply to 
Stuhlmann's protests. "The work to which I have 
devoted my life is in confusion and my activity in 
the German service has not been appreciated. Of 
what use is life if one does not accomplish something 
that is recognized as important?" These few words 
give us a glimpse into his proud nature. His im- 
portant services had not been justly recognized. The 
Khedive had written him a formal letter of thanks 
and invested him with an empty title: his own 

[113] 



EMIN PASHA 



subordinates had proved ungrateful; Stanley had 
so misjudged him that it grieved him, and now he 
had been censured by the authorities of the German 
colony. Notwithstanding all this, Emin now ven- 
tured one last effort to secure the recognition of a 
world which had so obstinately refused it. 

In that forest whose terrors we already know from 
Stanley's description he wrote his last letter to his 
sister. It is with mournful interest that we read 
the last utterances of a man who was so soon to be 
called from the scene of his activities. The letter 
begins : 

"It will sound strange, but it is the darkness of the 
forest alone that has prevented me from writing. At 
our various camping places we have had to cut down 
trees to find a place for our tents and then it was so dark 
one could scarcely see to read. We have all the joys, 
but at the same time all the discomforts of forest life in 
abundance. Our joys are restricted to those pleasures 
which sublime nature furnishes for everyone, while 
slime and water, slippery ascents and descents, uprooted 
and fallen trees, myriads of ants and small stinging flies, 
torment the men. Added to all this we have at times the 
pangs of hunger, for wide stretches of territory are un- 
populated and the plundering Manjemas have left nothing 
edible in the country. If one depends upon hunting 
he may soon starve, for the monkeys and gray parrots 
rarely ever come in sight. The forest is a paradise for 
the collector and my bird collection has many treasures. 
Frogs and insects also are very numerous. There are 
also surprisingly beautiful specimens of plants. If one 

[114] 



TO THE WEST 



could remain longer in a given place he would find an 
abundance of new things. The villages of the forest 
people lie mostly upon little elevations, forming wood 
islands, and all inclosed by fences of felled trees, and 
scattered about are plantations in which maize, beans, 
tobacco and bananas are raised. As to animals I have 
not yet seen a goat, and meat is in such demand that 
after skinning my birds they beg for the bodies. Dwarfs 
live in these woods and we have been visited by them 
several times. They were all hungry and begged for 
food, which we gave them sparingly." 

Their progress through the forest was more and 
more difficult as they were without provisions. 
Every day one or more of their number deserted, es- 
pecially the Soudanese, whom Emin had induced 
with so much exertion to accompany him. It was 
particularly hard for Emin, who was in the rear, 
and the porters to urge on and encourage the sick 
and injured. There followed rainstorms which 
made the roads in this hilly country still more slip- 
pery. New terrors were added to the old ones. To 
prevent thievery about their plantations the natives 
had filled the ground full of sharp pointed pieces of 
cane, which pierced the feet of those stepping upon 
them. Six of the porters were so badly injured in 
this way that they could not carry their packs. 

On the twenty-sixth of September, 1891, they 
approached the country of Momsu. The natives 
saw them coming at some distance away, but did 
not seem to be excited. Emin knew that he should 

[IIS] 



EMIN PASHA 



soon reach the northern end of the forest and that 
he could make his way westward without much 
difficulty. All plucked up fresh courage, but on the 
next day the forest road abruptly ended and all 
their efforts to find a new one were useless. There 
was no other alternative but to go back to their 
camp of the day before and from there not attempt 
to go forward. Hope seemed at an end. 

On the twenty-ninth of September Emin's people 
held a conference with him. They notified him that 
the greatest dissatisfaction prevailed, that fifteen 
men had deserted, that the porters could not go 
any farther, and that they could find nothing to eat. 
Emin explained to them that they would soon come 
to a fertile country where there was an abundance 
of food. He would send out fifty of his most vigor- 
ous men, who would quickly return loaded with 
fruit and lead them safely to that blessed country. 
They were satisfied and the men were sent. But 
alas, after three days they returned empty-handed 
without even finding a beaten path. Firmly and 
unanimously they decided to go south, whence they 
had come. They were quiet and moderate, but no 
power on earth could have induced them to take 
another step forwards. 

Emin was forced to submit, but he was exceedingly 
unfortunate. Had he only known that the Belgian 
station was not far away! Had his people followed 
him a few days longer he would have undoubtedly 
reached his goal, the west coast, and a splendid 

[ii6] 



TO THE WEST 



result would have crowned his efforts. Now he had 
to go back, hungry and discouraged. For twelve 
days his people lived upon banana roots and gourd 
leaves, which were almost destitue of nourishing 
qualities. It was hard to carry their packs and a 
fourth of the porters died on the way. 

In this most disconsolate period Stuhlmann's birth- 
day anniversary occurred and it is difficult to describe 
his emotions when on the morning of the day Emin 
met him and presented him with a bottle of cham- 
pagne and a beautiful watch. In the midst of all 
his troubles he did not forget to congratulate his 
affectionate friend. It seemed as if misfortunes 
were never to leave the expedition. Suddenly one 
of the porters was taken ill and showed very sus- 
picious symptoms. He had been feverish for several 
days and soon an eruption appeared all over his 
body. It was the smallpox, hard as it was for Emin 
to admit it. If this terrible pest should spread 
among his people the prospects of the expedition 
would be forever blasted. 



[117] 



Chapter XXI 
Emins Death 



CAMP was pitched in Undussuma to give the 
sick more careful attention and the ex- 
hausted ones time to recuperate. A severe 
epidemic of smallpox broke out there. Emin also 
had much to endure. His left eye was at last en- 
tirely blinded and an injury to his knee, to which at 
first he paid no attention, became inflamed, owing to 
the great dampness (it was the rainy season) and 
caused him much pain. Besides this he suffered 
from constant insomnia so that he grew very weak 
and could hardly move about. He was confined to 
his tent day and night, the prey of gnawing solici- 
tude and racking his brain to find some reason for 
rescuing something where there was nothing to 
rescue. 

One morning the Pasha invited Stuhlmann for an 
interview. He stated to him that a longer stay in 
that place would involve the death of all by small- 
pox and that isolation was impossible. It was his 
duty to remove the well ones at once. Stuhlmann 
must start homewards with them while he w^ould 

[ii8] 



EMIN'S DEATH 



follow after with the sick when they recovered. 
Stuhlmann refused to leave the Pasha, who was sick 
himself and in need of help, but Emin threw all his 
authority into the scales. As his superior he must 
be obeyed and he gave Stuhlmann a written order 
by which he could justify himself before the world 
and to his own conscience. So they divided men, 
weapons, munition, and supplies. Emin kept thirty- 
eight people, a part of them women and children, 
while Stuhlmann led one hundred and thirty-three 
to the coast and as a matter of fact saved them. On 
the tenth of December, in the early morning, Stuhl- 
mann departed with a sad heart. ^'I hope," said 
Emin, "to see you again in a month. If I am over- 
come by force and cannot come, remember me to my 
child." Only a handshake, a last wave of the hand, 
and they parted, never to meet again. 

After Stuhlmann's departure Emin's health im- 
proved somewhat, but many of the sick died. The 
natives had fled because of the pest and thus sup- 
plies could not be procured and there was great 
suffering from hunger. Dissatisfaction, drunken- 
ness, and disorder prevailed and Emin had to resort 
to the lash. The Soudanese were again the worst 
offenders. In all his troubles Emin always found 
consolation in his scientific observations, which he 
entered daily in his diary, notwithstanding his im- 
paired sight. As the sick were now recovering 
Emin began planning to resume the journey and 
he succeeded in inducing Ismaili, an Arab, to 

[119] 



EMIN PASHA 



accompany him to the Congo and procure the neces- 
sary porters. 

On the ninth of March, 1892, Emin left the camp, 
the scene of so many sorrows, still trusting in his 
people, though he had been expressly warned of 
their evil designs. But no choice was left him. 
Alone, he could reach neither the east nor the west 
coast. Now at the mercy of a hostile Arab, he was 
traversing that great region which had been visited 
only by slave hunters, and the thought of his own 
weakness was a great pain to him. How many years 
he had unweariedly fought these cruel men-stealers, 
inspired at that time by the hope that Europe at 
last would put an end to the infamous business. 
Now he looked out upon his province, which under 
his administration had been a scene of peaceful 
industry and of continually increasing prosperity, 
and heard only the shrieks of victims in the silence 
of the night. The little that we know of Emin's 
fate is from his diary, which is brought down to the 
twenty-second of October, upon which date he met 
his fate, as the result of revenge for the four pris- 
oners murdered by the Warambas, a crime of which 
he was believed to be guilty. Emin suspected all. 
It looks as if he did not try to escape from his fate. 
We read in his diary that the Arab chief, Kinene, met 
him and took him to his house at Kasango. "He 
wants to make sure of me," writes Emin. He clearly 
saw through his designs. 

On the following morning Emin sat upon the 

[120] 



EMIN'S DEATH 



beautiful veranda of his false host's house. Upon 
the table before him were spread out birds and 
plants, the spoils of the last few days, which he had 
investigated and whose characteristics he had noted 
down. Before him was a letter from the powerful 
Kibonge, whose possessions were on the Congo, in- 
viting him in a friendly manner to visit him and 
promising him protection. Emin was in a cheerful 
mood. Once more it seemed that the cup passed 
from him. On the morrow he would leave, go to the 
Congo and thence safely to the coast. 

Kinene entered and said: "Pasha, as you are 
going away in the morning, let your people go to the 
plantations and provide themselves with manioc and 
bananas. I will give them to you for the many fine 
things you have brought to me." Emin looked up 
from his book and thanked him and then sent for 
his people. Kinene said: "Let your people leave 
their guns here on the veranda, for the women who 
work on the plantations would be terrified if they 
saw men coming with guns." The men, fifty in 
number, did as he suggested and betook themselves 
to the plantations a mile away. 

When they were gone, Kinene spoke in a friendly 
way to Emin and regretted his speedy departure. 
Ismaili and Mamba, a slave, stood behind Emin's 
chair and at a sign from the chief seized him by the 
arms. Emin turned angrily and asked them what 
they meant. Then said Kinene: "Pasha, you must 
die." 

[121] 



EMIN PASHA 



^'What do you mean?" said Emin. ''Is this a 
sorry joke? How dare you restrain me? What do 
you mean by saying I must die? Who are you, 
Kinene, that you should dare to kill me?" 

Kinene answered: "It is the will of Kibonge. I 
must obey him." 

Three persons stepped forward and held Emin 
securely as he tried to free himself. When he saw 
that his efforts were useless, he said: ''This is a 
mistake. Here is a letter from Kibonge which 
promises me safe conduct." 

Kinene replied: "Pasha, if you can read Arabic, 
read this letter." 

And Emin read the second letter of the false 
Kibonge, which ordered him to be killed. He gave 
a deep sigh, then frowned and said: "Well, you will 
kill me, but do not think that I am the only white 
man in this country. Many will come to avenge my 
death and believe me, in two years there will not be 
a single Arab left in this region to tell the story of 
the destruction of his people." 

Kinene remained unmoved and when Emin saw 
there was no hope of escape he protested no longer 
and Ismaili, his treacherous guide, severed the head 
of the defenseless one from his body. 

Two years elapsed before definite news of Emin's 
fate was received, and as nothing was heard of him 
all that time, it was generally believed that he had 
been killed by Arabs, and that the truth had been 
concealed. At last Baron Dhanis, at the head of a 
[122] 



EMIN'S DEATH 



Belgian expedition, came to the vicinity of Kinene's 
possessions. There by chance Emin's trunk and 
diary were found in a cabin, and the discovery led 
to the arrest of Ismaili and three- others, who had 
participated in the murder, and their confession. 
The murderers were condemned to be hanged. A 
year later the treacherous Kibonge was made to 
pay for his infamy, for he was taken prisoner by a 
European expedition and put to death. 

Thus Emin, the quiet, genial man, who never did 
an injury to anyone, but conferred almost endless 
benefactions, died as he had lived — alone. The 
serious, strenuous work of his life brought him little 
gratitude. He lived to see the collapse of his great 
creation — the Equatorial Provinces. But the one 
thing which was his consolation in all his hard days 
and which was occupying him at the very hour of 
his death was his devotion to science, which did not 
die with him, but has been and always will be of 
great value to the world. The museums of Europe 
tell of the activity of this collector, and scholars who 
have studied his diaries are amazed at the richness 
of their contents. He will never die in the memory 
of his own people or of the civilized world; his name 
is indelibly engraved upon the tablets of history. 



[123] 



appentife 



The following is a chronological statement of the 
most important events in the life of Emin Pasha: 

1840 Birth of Emin Pasha. 

1865 Visits Turkey and professes Islamism. 

1876 Explored the Nile up to Lake Albert. 

1878 Made Pasha and Governor of the Equatorial 
Provinces. 

1883 Cut off by the Mahdi. 

1889 Stanley's relief expedition. 

1890 Return to the lakes in German service. 

1891 Rebellion of his carriers. 

1892 Killed by Arabs. 



[12s] 



SEP 25- 1912 



